


Tea Leaves and Diamond Bracelets

by Noizchild



Series: Wasteland 2011 [21]
Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Abuse, Apocalypse, Drugs, F/M, Gen, Mental Health Issues, Mental Instability, Multi, Past Lives, Pregnancy, Rape, Visions, Wasteland
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-26
Updated: 2019-01-22
Packaged: 2019-05-28 20:56:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 31
Words: 45,163
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15057644
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Noizchild/pseuds/Noizchild
Summary: Seventh volume is up. One of three stories that follow my poem, "Wasteland 2011." Ju is finally pregnant after several tries. Now, she and Yao focus on getting ready for the new baby. But, as with everything in the Wasteland, joy is short-lived. Why do all of the nations starting to have visions of a past life? Are these real or are they false memories brought by the Woman in Red?





	1. Little Bean, Past Lives, and Prophecies

Tea Leaves and Diamond Bracelets

Match One: Little Bean, Past Lives, and Prophecies:

-Ju-

My name is Ju Wang and I am eight weeks pregnant. Everything is going fine so far. Little Bean is healthy and still alive. Yao and I decided to call them that after the first sonogram.

"It's so tiny," I said, looking at the screen.

"Yes," Yao said.

"It looks like a little bean in a way," I said.

"Really?" he asked. "I thought it was a little seahorse." I tilted my head as I looked at the screen.

"I can kind of see it that way," I said. "I still think it looks like a little bean." The nickname stuck from there. It took Yao a little bit of time, but he thinks it's cute too.

"You are okay with calling him that?" he asked.

"Now, now," I said. "We don't know if it's a boy yet. It could be a girl. I don't want to know until Little Bean is born."

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"Yes," I said. "It doesn't feel right to know ahead of time. I don't want to force the child into a predetermined box before they are born."

"But what if they get sick or something goes wrong?" Yao asked.

"We will go to the hospital and Bik to make sure that doesn't happen," I said. "I just don't want to know the gender before Little Bean is born." Yao sighed and pulled me into his arms.

"Fine," he said. I smiled and kissed him on the cheek.

"Love you," I whispered in his ear.

"Yes," he said back. "Love you too." The clan mothers have been taking good care of me. Bik has been getting me herbs and vitamins from the markets and her own stash.

"I have been keeping these just in case," she told me after the celebration dinner. The fact that she smiled as she said that only made me slightly worried.

"Have you?" I asked.

"Of course," Bik said. "I am a nurse after all. Is that wrong?"

"No, no," I said, shaking my head. "Thank you."

"You're welcome!" she said with a smile that made me shiver. I bowed my head and walked out of her house. Bik's a little bit too excited for this, isn't she?

Anyway, onto the other mothers.

Cai has been praying over Little Bean. She recites sutras over my stomach in the evenings. I let her go along with it given her own past with her pregnancies.

"You sure this will work?" I asked one evening.

"Shhh!" Cai whispered. She went back to her sutras. I stood there and took it. Anything to help her, I guess. Cai lowered her head.

"All done," she said. "I will still take you by the temple on Sunday to get your baby fully protected, okay?"

"Thank you," I said. I bowed and walked out of her house. On another note, my cooking has gotten better. The mothers and even Yao insist on cooking for me.

"No, you sit down and rest," Hark said on a Friday.

"I'm not even that far along yet," I said. "I can handle the cooking just fine."

"No," she insisted. "Don't try to do too much. You already have the clan and this baby to shoulder. Get Yao to help you around the house." Yao looked up at with big eyes.

"I already do that!" he said.

"Then why does your dear wife insist on doing chores around the house herself?" Hark asked.

"It's fine," I said. "Really, it is."

"Not acceptable," she said, putting her hands on her hips. "A good husband looks after his wife when she is pregnant, especially in the early months!"

"Yao is doing a good job of that," I said. "He helps me with the business deals, doing the chores, and he helps with the cooking." Yao nodded his head as he smiled. Still, I knew that my words will fall on deaf ears. Even with the mothers worrying over Little Bean and me, it's just the status quo.

Except, Yao keeps saying strange things from time to time.

Like this morning for example. He and I were sitting at the table having breakfast. I had started on my rice when I heard him mutter something under his breath.

"Hm?" I asked. Yao blinked at me.

"What?" he asked.

"I just heard you say something about fire," I said. "What were you talking about?"

"Did I?" he asked.

"Are you feeling okay?" I asked. I reached out to touch his forehead. He shoved away my hand.

"I'm fine, stop that," he said. "I just have a lot on my mind lately."

"Is work or the baby?"

"Neither. It doesn't have anything to do with you. I've just had too much on my mind. But really, I'm fine."

I didn't look so convinced as I resumed eating my rice. Yao stared back at me, hoping that I would look away.

"Could you pick up more yams today?" I asked.

"Alright," he said.

"Thank you," I said. I shoved more rice into my mouth.

* * *

I couldn't let the matter rest.

Last night, I overheard Yao talking to Man talking on the phone. I pretended to be asleep as he talked.

"I'm still having the visions, Man," I heard him say. "I can still smell the smoke. Their screaming won't get out of my head. I don't know how much more I could take." I furrowed my eyebrows as I listened to him talk. What was he talking about? What did mean by he could smell smoke? Who was screaming?

While Yao was out shopping for dinner, I walked all the way to the Sun house and knocked on the door. I backed up as it opened.

"Oh, Ju," he said. "You should've called. What brings you by?"

"I need to talk to you," I said. "Can I come in?"

"O… Okay…" he said. Man stepped aside and I walked into the house. I sat down on the couch. He joined me and sat down in the armchair across from me.

"What is on your mind?" he asked. I leaned forward with my hand on my stomach.

"Yao keeps saying random, strange things," I said. "He was mumbling about something on fire under his breath this morning." Man froze with his eyes on me.

"Why would he be talking about something like that?" he asked.

"That's what I would like to know," I said. "I heard him talking to you over the phone last night. Please don't lie to me. Just… Tell me what's going on." Man folded his hands in his lap and pushed up his glasses.

"I really shouldn't be telling you this, but I am afraid that if this keeps up, things will get worse," he said.

"What is it?" I asked.

"He believes that he was a child laborer in the 1930's in a restaurant," Man said. He focused his eyes on me, waiting for a response.

"Okay…" I said. "What does this have to do with fire and smoke?"

"He thinks that he died when the owner of the restaurant set fire to it to cover his gambling debts," he said. I paused as I tried to think of something to say. I looked down at my hand over my stomach.

"What brought this on?" I asked.

"I don't know myself," he said. "Has he been under stress lately, aside from your previous attempt to conceive?"

"No…" I said. I didn't know why I said this next. It just slipped out. "But, I have something on my mind."

"What is it?" Man asked. I took my hand off of my belly.

"Well, a while back at the dinner party," I spoke up. "I went off to the bathroom and in the hallway, there was this strange woman who said there were things planned for my baby."

"What kind of things?" he asked. I shook my head.

"I have no idea," I said. "I found it crazy myself. But now…"

"You aren't so sure anymore?" Man asked.

"No," I said. I looked down at my stomach with that old feeling of dread. This time, I wasn't going to be the only one to feel it.


	2. Mesquite

Match Two: Mesquite:

She's wasting away.

Florence started to look more frail. Her red hair looked stringer and brittle. Her eyes looked so empty. Her clothes hung off of her body now. Sometimes, Florence could barely stand up without any help. This was like that winter she went with Alfred and Lydia to Coney Island only worse. Was she ever that pale?

"How long does she have?" Alfred asked Lydia.

"I'm not sure," she said. "The doctors say about ten months to a year. But now…" She clutched her wrist.

"It's going to be okay," someone spoke up. Alfred and Lydia looked up to see Florence sitting across them on the couch. She smiled with her bony hands in her lap.

"I am okay with the news," Florence said. "You've told me what was going to happen. I have accepted it."

"Florence…" Lydia said.

"It's okay, Lydia," the older sister said. "I have accepted that I will die soon enough." Alfred stared at her with big eyes. How could she be this brave? Florence wasn't mad at her illness. She didn't curse it. She didn't cry over it. She seemed to cherish each day before the end came.

"Hey, Florence," Alfred said.

"Hm?" she asked.

"Could we go to Coney Island again sometime?" he asked. "All three of us." Lydia turned her head with shocked eyes.

"You serious?" she asked. He patted her on the head.

"Of course," the American man said. "We are all family."

"Since when?" Lydia asked.

"Aw, don't be like that!" he said. "And here I was thinking that we were getting close." The young woman wrinkled her nose and clicked her tongue.

"What was that for?" Alfred asked. He and Lydia looked up when they heard laughing. Florence covered her mouth as she giggled.

"So nice to see you two getting along so well," she said. Lydia raised her eyebrow.

"Huh?" she asked. Alfred rubbed the back of his hand and laughed.

"You can say that!" he said.

"No," Lydia said.

"And yes," Florence said.

"Yes what?" the American man asked.

"I would like to go to Coney Island one more," she said. "With both of you."

"Yeah!" Alfred shouted, pumping his fist into the air. Lydia rolled her eyes and rubbed her forehead.

"Whatever," she muttered under her breath. Florence sat back and smiled.

* * *

Florence's declining health isn't his only worry, though.

Alfred's having strange visions again. Something about them seemed off. He's had nightmares before and they meant nothing to him. But these felt too real. He saw that high school gym again. That fifteen-year-old boy stood watching the basketball game again. His clothes hung off of his body. He looked like he hadn't eaten in days, but he wouldn't go get something to eat. Alfred couldn't understand the reason, but something about that boy looked familiar.

He couldn't see his face. The blonde bangs hid the boy's eyes. Someone walked up to him and tried to talk to him. The boy functioned like a normal person for the most part. He smiled and talked to that other person in front of them.

But it was all an act. The skinny blonde boy was hurting on the inside.

_It seems unfair that I have to keep living like this. I just don't know if I can keep living like this. It's so exhausting. What if things don't get better? I'm scared that I'll be trapped in this cycle forever. I'd rather die than live with this for the rest of my life. Things are already falling apart. I've gained so much weight and I don't think I can tolerate gaining any more._

Alfred shook his head. He found himself back in the living room.

"Are you okay?" Lydia asked. The American man looked up.

"Hm?" he asked. The young woman tilted her head.

"You look so pale," she said.

"Do I?" he asked. "Oh." Lydia made another concerned look on her face. Alfred put up his hand.

"Don't," he said. The American man stood up.

"Where are you going?" Florence asked.

"I don't feel so well," Alfred said. "I'll see you tomorrow." He walked out of the house without saying anymore.

* * *

Alfred could feel his head swimming outside. He narrowed his eyes as images of an empty high school hall flashed in his eyes. That basketball game again. The bathroom stall where the teenage boy sat on the floor, crying. Counting all of those calories. Weighing himself after eating. The need to drink anything in state. The falling in and out of a fog because of the lack of food in weeks. The smile hiding the internal struggle he was going through. He thought that he was hiding it well. No one would think that he was that sick. He realized it wasn't working when all eyes were on him. He must have looked a right mess too. None of his clothes ever fit right on him anymore. He looked so pale, so sullen. They even started to see bones through the skin. When he opened his mouth, death came out.

_Why do I have to do this alone? But no one can help me. They don't understand what I'm going through. I won't be able to explain. They'll try and make me eat something. They'll police me._

Several adults talking to the teenage boy. Those adults kept asking him questions about his well-being.

"Are you sick?"

"Why are you hiding food?"

"Why are you so skinny?"

"Have you been eating lately?"

"Are you okay?"

"Why are you wasting away like this?"

"Have you eaten today?"

"Can we talk?"

It didn't help that this boy's friends, assuming they were his friends, pleaded to him as well. Some of them lied.

"Talk to us."

"You look great."

"You're wasting away."

"Are you sure you are okay, man?"

"Get it together."

"I'm worried that you might die if you keep this up."

There was always that girl around him. He couldn't see her face. Yet, she had the bluest eyes that he had ever seen. She stayed by his side and tried to get this boy to open up. It hurt her inside to see him wasting away like this. This girl tried to reach out to him, but he turned her away. Even still she wouldn't give up on him. That girl stuck by him through the worst of it. In fact, he remembered the last words she said to him.

"I just want to let you know that I am here for you always."

He couldn't understand why, but those always hurt him the most. He could feel the tears rolling down his cheeks.

Suddenly, his cell phone rang.

"Hello?" he asked.

"Alfred?" a woman's voice asked.

"Florence?" he asked. "What's the matter? Did something happen?"

"No, no," Florence said. "I'm just calling to see if you are okay."

"Oh," the American man said. He rubbed the back of his head. "I'm fine. I just felt a little bit ill. I'm on my way home now."

"What happened to you?" she asked. "You got so pale and went quiet on us." Alfred stood on the sidewalk, blinking.

"Did I?" he asked.

"Yes."

"Oh…"

"What's going on with you?"

The American man rubbed his forehead. "I don't really know. I am just having a weird time. Sorry about that."

"It's okay. If you want to talk to me, I will be here for you."

Alfred froze. Those words sounded so familiar to him. He could see the girl in the hall talking to him in the hall of that school. The boy looked like he had been crying again. She pulled him into her arms and started crying too. She whispered those words in his ear.

"I will never leave you. If you want to talk to me, I will be here for you."

"Hello? Are you still there?" Florence asked. "Hello? Hello?" Alfred jumped back into reality.

"Huh? Oh. I'm still here," he said. "Uh… Listen, let me get home first. I'm going to take and go to bed. I'll call you in the morning, okay?"

"Alright," Florence said. "Good night."

"Good night," Alfred said back. "Love you." He hung up and walked home with his hands shoved into his pockets.

When he made it home, Alfred froze. He ran into another problem of his. That little girl with the pink Hello Kitty backpack stood on his porch. She still had that same glow in her eyes. Alfred predicted that she would be happily talking about how she would get to go home today. He couldn't figure her out. What did she want with him? Why did she keep talking about going home so much? The American man tried talking to her but ended getting nowhere with him. He didn't feel like dealing with this child today.

"Listen, I don't know who you are, but could you…?" Alfred started to ask as he opened the gate. As soon as he stepped into his yard, his heart pounded against his chest. He began to see it all again. The hallway, the basketball game, the bathroom, and there was a new scene this time. That girl who wanted to stay by his side lay on her back in a bed undressed. She looked up the boy with desperate eyes. Tears ran down her cheeks. How did they come to this point? What was she to this boy? What did her do to make her cry? Why was she crying? This girl kept whispering something to him while she was in tears.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"No," Alfred said back in reality. "It's not your fault. I'm so sorry I hurt you and everyone I love." The American man sank to his knees with tears in his empty eyes.

He wasn't the only country with strange images like this.


	3. Amabie

Match Three: Amabie:

Kiku found himself in a familiar place. Only, it gets darker each day. It doesn't happen right away either.

"It's not that bad," she tells him. Her voice made her shudder each day. She was the cause of his pain. This woman him the beauty of Lucifer himself. Sure, she looked elegant with her long dark red hair and long red dress. Her glowing red eyes made his stomach turn.

"Why must you look so sick when you see me?" she asked. "I haven't done anything to physically hurt you." She speaks in lies. She may "love" him, but he doesn't see it that way. No, this was not love. Kiku drew his knees to his chest.

There are floating days. There are bad days. Then are days where the nightmare goes on and on.

All of yesterday was a nightmare day.

It started out as one of those rare times he slept. (Ha, him sleeping? That almost never wants to be around him anymore. It's like even that can sense he has become toxic.) Kiku woke up alone in his futon. Sena let him a note on her pillow.

"I headed out. Please get some rest. Also, please eat something."

Kiku's heart sank as he read the note. He stopped being able to hide the pain from Sena. Things grew worse after she saw the Woman in Red for the first time. His wife added like nothing happened. But Kiku could see traces of fear in her eyes. They barely speak to each other anymore. If Kiku looked closely, he could see her trembling.

"I am fine," she would tell him. He shook his head.  _No, you have seen what hell comes with her. Turn away before it gets worse. She keeps pulling me further down._

Kiku only saw the darkness as he sank further into the Woman in Red's trap. He tried to grasp the light, but it fell out of his reach. He could see her hand pushing him further down.

Sena wouldn't let him leave the house. She had already told everyone that he was taking the day off.

"You don't need to be out," Sena said. "Try and get some rest tomorrow, okay?" She kissed him on the forehead before going to bed. Unfortunately, not being at work just made things worse. She only came out when he was alone. She didn't leave him alone that.

But, the Woman in Red brought more with her.

He's trapped between two hells. The present one is starting to show cracks. Their voices sound so faint. Kiku could still make out what they were saying.

_Are you okay, man?_

_You don't look so well._

_What is going on with you?_

_Have you been eating?_

_Talk to me, please._

He can't reach out. Kiku knew that he could get help if he would just ask for it. But, she had his hands over his mouth.

"I can't let you tell them about me," she purred in his ear. "That would spoil my surprise." His eyes darted behind him. His captor smiled like a hungry cat.

Then, there is his past life.

The young bride tried to a good wife to him. His father needed this marriage to work. She and her new husband felt awkward around each other. He wasn't used to talking to real people, especially girls. It didn't help that she looked so cute. She was always so patient with him.

"It's nice to meet you," the bride said the day before the wedding. "I hope you treat me well." He looked at her with a puzzled look on his face. Somehow, he ended up hurting her. He couldn't remember saying a day where she wasn't crying. He didn't know how to fix the problem. The more and more he tried, the worse the problems became. The family's money started dwelling down. Just before the end, they had lost almost everything. On top of that, the wife's health circled the drain. The final straw was when her hair start falling out.

He ended up pushed up to the only way out.

Kiku pulled back to reality, panting. A hand rested atop his head. The Woman in Red smiled down at him.

"This type of thing is normal," she said. "I know you didn't mean to hurt her like that." Kiku looked up at her.

"Why are you showing me this?" he asked.

"That's not just me, my love," that vile woman said. "Your past is coming back to you just as clear as ever as all of the gates are being opened."

"I don't want to see this!"

"It can't be helped. Your old memories will keep flowing into your head. You will soon have the whole picture once my power comes back."

Kiku began to tremble. "And what am I supposed to do with all of that?"

"That's up to you," she said. She leaned down and kissed him again. He wanted to push her away. When did she break him down that much? He was supposed to be the strong and silent man in his family. Kiku would even try to stand up to Sena when he felt that she was out of line. He could stand his ground when the need called for it. But with this woman…

"Aw," she said. "Why are you so scared of me?" She pulled him into her arms. "You shouldn't be afraid of me like that. You and I will be getting really close soon."

"Let me go," he said in a soft voice.

"Hm?" she asked.

"Please… let me go," Kiku pleaded. She gave him a sweet little pout as she shook her head.

"I'm afraid I can't do that," she said. "You know why." Kiku lowered his head. He hated to admit it, but she was right. She keeps digging her claws in deeper into him. She dragged him further into his darkness. This path didn't seem to have an end either. He kept sinking further and further down.

But he won't be alone for long.

"There will be others following you," she said. Kiku shook his head quickly.

"No!" he cried.

"That's how it is," she said. Her words stung worse than before. He wanted to run, but he wouldn't get far. The other countries won't have much luck either.

"I'm home!" Sena called from the front door. Kiku and the Woman in Red turned her head.

"Oh, she's home again," she purred. "I might have to pay her another visit soon."

"Please… don't. Leave her alone. She isn't involved with this."

"Too late. She's already seen me. And believe it or not, she's starting to see my world closing in on her as well."

Kiku shook his head, trembling. "No…"

"Kiku?" another woman's voice asked. The Japanese man turned to see Sena standing in the doorway, staring at him.

"Darling?" she asked. "What's the matter? Did you have another episode?" Sena ran over to her husband. She tried pull him into her arms.

"No!" Kiku shouted.

"Darling?" his wife asked.

"Please…" He huddled up into a ball and trembled. "Stay away from me. She'll pull you into the darkness too and corrupt your soul! Please stay away from me! I am toxic!"

"What are you talking about?" Sena asked. Kiku buried his head in hands. His wife wanted to reach out and touch him.

"Just… please…" Kiku pleaded. His wife took a step back with her hand to her chest.

The Woman in Red watched them from the other side of the room, smirking.


	4. Italy in Discord

Match Four: Italy in Discord:

Feliciano found himself unable to trust his older brother anymore. His nightmares started getting worse. Lovino always stood in front of him with the gun pointed at him.

"I'm so sorry," he always said. "But you are too pure for this world." Bang! Feliciano's body felt to the darkness as red took over his sight. Lovino stood over him with the gun pointed.

"I'm sorry," he seemed to say. Four more shots rang out in the darkness. The whole time, Feliciano lay there wondering why.

_Brother… Why are you doing this to me? It hurts. Brother… I... I …_

"I love you."

Bang!

It didn't make sense to the younger Italian brother. Why would Lovino kill him? What did he mean being him being too pure for this this world?

"Stop looking at me like that, you idiot!" Lovino snapped. Feliciano trembled as he looked like he was going to cry.

"What?!" his brother said. Tears ran down his younger brother's face. He jumped forward and hugged Lovino.

"What the hell?!" the older brother asked. Feliciano looked up with big eyes.

"Please… don't kill me," he pleaded. "I don't want to die!" Lovino looked down at him.

"What the fuck are you talking about?" he asked. His brother sniffled. Lovino groaned and rolled his eyes.

"I won't kill you, I promise," he said. Feliciano's lower lip quivered.

"How can I be sure that you are not lying?" he asked. "What if you think that I'm too pure for this world or whatever." Lovino froze and looked down at him.

"What did you say?" he asked.

"Am I too pure for this world?" Feliciano asked. Lovino shoved him off, trembling. The color drained from his brother's face.

"Lovino?" he asked. His older brother slowly backed out of the living room.

"Lovino? What's the matter? Lovino? Lovino?" Feliciano asked. The older Italian disappeared out of the room without a single word. His brother felt his stomach tie up in knots as he sank to his knees.

* * *

The Wasteland's poison started to spread to the younger countries. Up until now, the Italian brothers had no idea what was going on. Feliciano had a feeling that something was wrong between Ludwig and Kiku. He hadn't seen his friends in weeks. Ludwig wound up in the hospital. Kiku was still locked up in his house. Sena wouldn't let anyone talk to him. Gilbert wouldn't tell him what was really going on.

"You do not need to know what is going on," he said. "The less you know the better." That only heightened Feliciano's worry. It wasn't just the axis powers sinking into despair. The allies started to share the same troubling behavior that Ludwig and Kiku would showing. Arthur had become withdrawn just like Kiku had. Yao and Francis tried to put on a brave face. Ivan disappeared out of the room to make phone calls. Only Alfred didn't have a clue of what was going on. Nobody wanted to tell them what going on either.

That wasn't the only problem that he and his brother had.

-Feliciano-

He had other dreams that disturbed him too.

First off, he was girl living in Venice. Maybe it was Naples. This had to be the start of 1981. This girl as him came from a rich family. Her parents loved her dearly. She practically had everything. Great friends, a nice home, loving family, very attractive looks, and a nice guy that fancied her.

But, it was all a beautiful façade.

It hurt for her to smile. She felt like crying every day. Only her mother knew of her pain. She already lost a son. Her mother was determined not to lose her daughter either. She tried to get the best help that she could for her only daughter.

"How are you really feeling today?" the therapist asked. The answer was never the truth. The pretty little rich girl would always smile and crack jokes. Anything just not to talk about the pain. The therapist would ger frustrated at the end.

"Listen," she said days before the end. "I can't help you if you won't talk to me. You can't pretend you aren't sick. This sort of thing never goes away." By this point, the pretty little rich girl had gotten worse. She stopped going to school and cut off all contact with her friends. The crying and the medication wasn't helping either. She decided that there was only one way out.

These dreams further confused Feliciano than the ones where Lovino was murdering him. He was sure that he was always male all of his life. The more he thought about that, the more Feliciano found himself unsure. The Italian man rubbed his forehead.

"I don't know what's going on anymore!" he wailed.

-Lovino-

Feliciano's words stirred something deep and dark inside of Lovino. Actually, it had been there for quite sometime. He too had a gut feeling that something was wrong. Antonio kept trying to shut him out just like everyone else was.

"This should not concern you, Lovino," he said. "Don't ask me any more about what's going on. It's something bad. Really bad. Just stay out of it, please." The way the Spaniard said it was filled with fear. Usually, Lovino would get mad at him for keeping secrets and shutting him out. But this time, instinct told him to stay away. And he started to get a feeling that he could see the reason why.

For, Lovino himself started to have visions.

He couldn't see anything around him. But, it felt so warm. His whole body felt like it was underwater. But, he wasn't alone. There was another body next to him. They could hear sounds. They came across so low, so muzzled. He could hear a woman's voice.

She sounded so happy. She would sing to them, talk to them. She kept saying different names aloud.

"What should I call you?" the woman wondered aloud. She talked about what they would grow up to be. She even planned everything that they would do once she met them. But, something was not right.

His body was getting weaker while the other body got stronger. The other body grew and lived every day. His body was growing too, but the other body took everything from him. He struggled to stay alive with a strange fear gripping him. When he stopped hearing her voice, he knew that he would not last.

He was in another place. This time, he was looking down. He could see everything. He was able to put a face to the woman's voice. She sounded a little more sad than when he was in the darkness. Though the other body was still alive, it wasn't what she had hoped for. He would see that other body be born and live a comfortable and rich life in Venice. He wished that he had that life as well. But, the other body never seemed happy.

It wouldn't be long before that other body joined him in the sky.

Lovino sat on the floor with his knees to his chest, trembling.

"Damn it, Feliciano," he cursed himself. "Why did you have to bring things like that up?" What made him kill his brother? Where did he get the gun? Would he even be able to pull the trigger if it came down to it?

The poison of the Wasteland didn't end there.


	5. Work Day, Research, and Past Lives

Match Five: Work Day, Research, and Past Lives:

-Ju-

Despite being pregnant, I still have work to do. There is so much to do. The clan has to stay afloat. Szu and her parents need to be reassured that they will be fine. My uncle and Junjie are still on the loose. I took the time to warn Zhong about that.

"My men are on security for that little bastard," he told me over the phone. "We will be able to handle him."

"He's not alone this time," I said. "He's working with Jianjun. I don't know what they are plotting, but please be careful."

"Thank you for the warning," he said. "We can handle them from our end." That didn't sound so reassuring to me.

"Please be careful," I said. I worried about that man ever since he learned that Junjie wasn't his son. Zhong kicked his wife out of the house and filed for divorce. Word on the street was that she's not happy about that. I wouldn't put it past her to be on the scene for revenge. My uncle probably kissed up to her to get her on his side.

"He might have your ex on his side," I added.

"I will keep that in mind," Zhong said. "Goodbye." That would be the last time we would speak over the phone. I stared at the receiver.

"You shouldn't worry too much about it," Hen-to said. "Zhong is just as stubborn as the old man was."

"That's what I'm afraid of," I said.

"Don't be," he said. "You have other things to worry about."

"Right," I said. "Of course. What's on tap today?" Fei handed me the paperwork.

"We have three potential new trade partners," he said. I looked at all of the papers. All of them old school.

"Fei?" I asked.

"Hm?" he asked.

"We never seem to attract new blood to us," I said. "It's all the old generation of traders. We never support any independent or new businesses. Why is that?"

"I don't know," Fei said. "We've never tried it." I looked at the papers in my hand.

"Hm," I said.

"What's on your mind?" Yao asked. I lowered the papers and looked at my boys.

"Gentlemen," I said. "I would like to take a gamble today. We are going to being taking some new businesses under our wing." Hen-to, Fei, and Yao all stared at me.

"What?!" they asked. I put up my hand.

"Hear me out," I said. "There are so many businesses of the world working to make it. They barely get the chance because of the old generation taking up every opportunity. I don't want this clan to be just like the old guard. If we are not careful, this clan could end up falling behind with no way to support itself. We have to grow and evolve to stay alive. If we have to open our arms out to new blood, I'll take that chance."

"I don't think we can do that legally," Yao said.

"We can be silent partners to them," I said. "I just want to encourage growth to the little guy."

"What about the trade partners right now?" Fei asked.

"We will check them out and pick the best ones for us," I said. "We're going to need all of the money and support we can get to give back to the little guys." I spread the papers out on the desk.

"What's in this year?" I asked. How are we going to keep up with the season?" This should do it. The paperwork and meetings shouldn't be too much. I knew as the months wore on, the mothers would come up with ways to make me stay home and let the men do all of the work. It just doesn't feel right to do that. I am the leader of this clan and I have to provide for them. Just because I am a woman and pregnant do not mean that work slows down.

But, that is not my only worry.

When I am alone, I start doing some research on past lives. I want to know what is going with Yao so that I can help him. I didn't want to let him know that Man told me everything. He would probably not tell me anyway. My husband smiles and puts on a brave face. I know because I do the same thing sometimes. Man's been a real help to me with this.

"Did something trigger this 'past life'?" I asked.

"He said it was nothing," Man said.

"That can't be right," I said.

"How things going over there with you?" he asked.

"Good," I said. "He's excited about Little Bean."

"Little Bean?"

"The baby."

"Oh, I see."

"Plus, we are about to take on a news business tactic."

Man whistled over the phone. "Wow! I heard the details. I wish you luck."

"Thank you. Listen, I have taken the liberty of researching past lives. I am looking for what causes people to believe that they have past lives."

"Don't tell me that you think you have one too."

I shook my head. "No. Nothing like that. I just want to understand to help Yao."

"Ah, gotcha."

I peeked out the open office door. Oh good, I was still alone. My boys went out to meet one of potential trade partners. They should be back about three. Still, I don't think I should stay too long in the house. Yao would start asking questions if he heard me talking to Man on the phone. Then he'd stop Man from talking to me about the subject altogether.

"Are you free right now?" I asked.

"Yes," Man said.

"I'm coming over right now," I said.

"Alright," he said. "I will be waiting for you."

"Thank you," I said before hanging up. I took in a deep breath. I should be home before they get back.

* * *

I knocked on the Sun House's door.

"Hello, Ju," Man greeted me.

"Thank you for having me over," I said. We exchanged bows before I followed him into the house. We didn't even make it into the living room before I started up with one question that I had to ask.

"What do you think of all of this?" I asked. Man pushed up his silver framed glasses.

"I don't believe in it myself," he said. "You get one life to live and then you die."

"So… where does the past life concept come from?" I asked.

"There are many factors that play into it," Man said. "Mental illness, stress, religion… There have been countless studies on the subject. It's all like religion itself, really."

"And you think stress or mental illness is causing this for Yao?" I asked.

"I cannot say for certain. I will need to observe him on my own," he said.

"Right," I said. "I will keep doing my research."

"Would you like to stay for tea at least?" Man asked. "I mean, you came all of this way." I took a moment to think about it.

"Alright," I said. I followed Man further into the house. He glanced over his shoulder at me.

"Ju, may I tell you something?" he asked.

"Hm?" I asked.

"Don't get mixed up in this past life business," Man said, turning to me. "If you do, you will lose sight of the future. You have too much at stake for you to lose yourself like that. Think of Little Bean and the clan."

"I understand," I said. I followed Man into the dining room.

* * *

I spent dinner looking over information about past lives on my phone over dinner. Yao made me enough food to feed an army this week.

"You don't have to do all of the cooking, you know?" I said.

"But I don't want to hear Bik and the other mothers chewing me out because I made you cook over a hot stove."

"But I don't want to feel so useless around the house," I said. "Please let me do something!"

"You just rest and let me take care of you," Yao said.

"Please?" I asked. "I don't want to die of boredom." My husband patted me on the head.

"You can still do paperwork at the desk," he said. "That's going something. I frowned with his hand on my head.

"Uh-huh," I said in a flat tone.

"I'm home," I heard Yao say back in present day. I didn't even look up from my phone as he walked into the dining room.

"Welcome back," I said. I turned to see him standing in the doorway. "How did it go?"

"Pretty good," Yao said.

"And how are you doing?" I asked.

"I'm okay," he said. He's lying. I forced myself to smile as I turned off my phone.

"Cool," I said. "Are we free tomorrow?" Yao raised his eyebrow at me.

"Why?" he asked.

"We might as well spend as much time together as we can before Little Bean is born," I said. "Babies take up everything as they grow up. I just want us to make some dates here and there in between work." I looked at him with big puppy dog eyes. Yao turned his head away.

"Fine," he said. "I'll take you out on a date tomorrow." I leapt up and hugged him wildly.

"Oh! I love you so much!" I said. Yao pulled me into his arms.

"Yes, I love you too," he said. I rested my head against his chest. I don't know what's wrong with him, but I will do my best to help him. I won't tell him what I am doing for the time being. Besides, we have other things to worry about as well.


	6. Fairy Queen in Blood

Match Six: Fairy Queen in Blood:

If Arthur thought Hecate was bad, Allison would make him wish that he was never born. The nightcomers practically took over his flat. Their mother just made it worse.

On the surface, Allison looked like a proper lady. She kept up well with her appearances. Her dark hair was always combed to her shoulders. Her Victorian dress gave her the impression of being wealthy to others. She did have the money to back it up, mind you. So many years of living helped her accumulate wealth and status through the changing years. Allison spoke so eloquently too. She knew what she wanted and communicated it well. Her grace and charm drew others towards her.

But, Arthur knew the truth.

Allison sat across from him in the living room at three in the morning. She held a glass of red wine in her hand.

"Care for a drink, dear Arthur?" she asked. The Englishman quickly shook his head.

"No?" she asked, eyebrow raised. He shook his head again. Allison shrugged.

"Pity," she said. Arthur looked up at her with big eyes.

"Hm?" Allison asked. "Did you say something?" He looked like he was going to cry.

"Why are you doing this to me?" he said in an inaudible voice. She took a sip of her red wine. Allison herself never laid a head upon the English man. Her daughters were the ones who tormented him. Allison didn't have to do much to him. The look in her eyes alone was enough to send shivers down his spine. He couldn't tell what she was thinking.

"Why you ask?" she asked. Arthur slowly nodded. Has it come down to this? He can't tell her or her daughters no. Hecate already broke him down. She forced him into a contact that he can't get out of. He couldn't escape the eyes of her sisters. They cut him off from his colleagues. Lucy went through his mobile phone the other day.

"You wouldn't be making any rather unnecessary calls, would you?" she asked. Arthur backed up, shaking his head.

"No, no!" he said. "Of course I wouldn't!" Lucy turned off his phone.

"I will be keeping this by my side, thank you," she said. "You won't get it back until Mother says so." Arthur gulped as the nightcomer walked down the hall.

Meanwhile in present day, Allison put down her glass.

"My, my, my," she said. "I didn't think that I would have to take the time to break it down to you." The woman with the dark hair laughed.

"Well then," she said. "I guess I can break it down to you." Arthur's eyes widened. Allison motioned him over to her. He quickly shook his head. She wouldn't let up on him.

"Come on," she said in a low voice. She motioned him over again. The Englishman lowered his shoulders and crawled over to her feet.

"Good boy," Allison said in a low voice. She reached out and touched him on the forehead. A violent soundless wave shot through his body. Arthur's eyes widened as he felt himself slowly away into the darkness.

* * *

_What is this?_

Arthur's eyes shifted around the dark purple. The hollowing winds surrounded his head. His body felt so cold. It was then he noticed that he was naked.

"Hello?" the Englishman asked. He froze when felt a heavy breath on his nape. Against his better judgement, Arthur glanced out of the corner his eyes behind him. Golden eyes locked upon him. He could tell that was Allison behind him.

Only, she looked a bit different.

She appeared much younger. She pulled him closer to his body. Her soft, smooth skin made him feel that much colder. When did she dye her hair light blonde? She hazy lavender smell of her made his heart race. Arthur knew where this was headed.

_No…_

Allison gently breathed on his ear. "Do not be afraid. Give yourself over to me." Arthur frantically shook his head.

"No!" he cried. She blew on his ear on his nape.

"But you must," she whispered. "You have the one thing that will sustain us in this game." She held back her right hand.

Stab!

Arthur let out a silent scream and black blood fell out of his mouth. Allison shivered as she breathed in.

"Ah, yes!" she moaned. "That's good! I can feel your life energy flowing through me! Can you feel it? Yes! Yes! Oh!" Fear held Arthur hostage. He glanced behind to see those golden eyes turning bright red.

"You feed us," Allison purred. "Your magic has been strong ever since you were a little boy. I have been watching you for quite some time now. When Hecate took the first taste, I knew that you would be the one to lead us to victory." She dug her hand in deeper. The pain spread through his limbs.

"Stop," he whizzed out.

"But, I can't," she said. "You make me feel so young again." Allison closed her eyes. She started moaning aloud. The Englishman trembled as her nails touched his heart.

"Let me go…" he whimpered.

"I can't," she said. "Mmm." Arthur's eyes rolled back into his head. This was where he was now, huh? Was he going to be a slave to Allison and her daughters? He would've broken away from her grasp under normal circumstances.

"Please…" the Englishman pleaded. Allison giggled.

"You know we can't do this," she purred in his ear. Arthur finally turned his head. Allison's face began to resemble one of a serpent's. Her eyes burned with the flames as she shivered. The Englishman looked down and saw more hands covering his naked body. The dainty fingers inched upwards on his skin. He could feel their nails digging in. The Englishman let out a violent silent scream.

Allison smirked at her work.

_Can you see it now?_

* * *

Allison drew back her hand. Arthur sat on his knees with all of the color drained from his face. He broke down trembling in front of her.

"Well?" she asked. Arthur fell on his living room, shaking violently. Allison finished her wine and stood up. She reached down and patted him on the head. Her knees came down by his head. Arthur could feel her hot breath on his ear.

"I am so glad that you understand now," she whispered. "We have so much more work to do." She gently kissed him on the cheek.

That kiss was enough to kill what was left inside.


	7. Leiden

Match Seven: Leiden:

Ludwig lay unconscious in his hospital bed. It had been three weeks since Gilbert found him on the living room floor not moving with his eyes open and shirt covered in blood. The doctors were able to get him stable for the time being. But they couldn't figure out why he wouldn't wake up.

"We've never seen anything like it," the main doctor told Gilbert. "All his vitals are stable. There is nothing wrong with any of the major organs. All of the tests came back clean."

"So why won't he wake up?" Gilbert asked.

"We can't figure it out," the doctor said. "There's no way to wake him up either. We've tried everything." The Prussian man lowered his eyes.

"Oh…" he said.

"Can you tell me what happened?" the doctor asked. Gilbert shook his head.

"No," he said. "It's like I said, I came home and found him like that. I don't what to tell you." On the contrary, he had an idea what happened.  _Ludwig, I told you to stop looking, but you had to keep going. Why didn't you stop?_

He looked at Ludwig still unconscious in his bed.

* * *

It felt so cold in the darkness. He could hear whispering over his head. There was that doctor talking to his supposed parents during the war. He told them that there was nothing he could do to save their son. He had served Hitler well. Now, the parents had to make a choice of taking him off life support or let him stay a vegetable for quite a long time. The room became quiet. The couple whispered to each other for a moment.

And then they made their choice.

"Can you hear me?"

Ludwig opened his eyes. The woman in the raggedy red coat sat on the foot of the bed. She looked like she had been crying.

"Lydia?" the German man asked.

"Yes," she said.

"Where did you go?" he asked. "I tried to look everywhere for you." The man could see fire in her eyes. She clutched her coat with her fist.

"Liar," she hissed under her breath.

"What?" Ludwig asked.

"Liar," the woman said again. "Do not lie to me." The air in this empty room became colder. Lydia's empty cold black eyes seemed to glow red. Her pale skin made her look that much creepier. Ludwig shivered, but he couldn't look away.

"Lydia, please," he pleaded.

"Do not lie me!" she screamed.

"I'm not lying!" Ludwig said. He tried to remember the time they spent together. She used to look much healthier and had a smile on her face. He promised that he would keep her safe during the war. But, he knew the truth. War was an ugly thing. Still, deep inside of him hoped that he would at least come back for her.

"I really tried to look for you," Ludwig said. "I really did." Her face became distorted like an image glitching on a computer screen.

"Liar!" she screamed again. Her voice started to sound like a growling demon. Lydia started breathing heavily. The German man tried to remember everything about them. Too many fragments skipped around in his head. He could see that old smile over the demonic-looking face. Her eyes glowed bright red.

-Poland, 1936-

A young German man stood in a park with a young woman with dark hair. She had a dreamy look in her eyes. They spoke, but he couldn't hear what they were saying. The man pulled her into his strong arms.

-Present Day-

Ludwig didn't remember any of this.

Lydia's face came within inches of his. He could hear her breathing heavily. Her empty eyes could drill holes into his soul. What did she want with him? Why wouldn't she let him go? Speaking of which…

Ludwig took a look around.  _Where are we?_  The only thing he could see was thick grey curtain and the bed that they sat on. He couldn't see anything else. Sharp nails dug into his cheeks as she whipped his face to hers.

"Why did you betray me?!" she screamed.

"I don't understand you!" Ludwig said. His voice came out choked up. When did she turn into this monster with the glowing red eyes and breaking face? Lydia's face glitched out again in his vision. Her nails dug into his cheeks.

"I did try to look for you," Ludwig said again. "I searched for you for months. I couldn't find you or your family."

"Liar!" Lydia barked. "You betrayed me!" The more she screamed, the more the room shook. He couldn't find anything to make her believe him. It didn't help that he didn't know what she wanted.

"What do you want with me?" he asked. The woman didn't speak. Ludwig couldn't read what the woman was thinking. Her empty eyes still had fire in them. To him, they looked like they had dulled, but he couldn't be to certain. Did she even understand him?

"What do you want with me?" Ludwig asked again. "I want to help you. Just tell me what you want. Please, talk to me!" He's said this before. She's been upset at him for something that he's done in the past. The young man would have to beg for her to talk to him.

"Lydia, please!" he would beg. Sometimes, she would walk away from him with a cold look in her eyes. That would stick him worse than any knife had in the war. The young man couldn't think of a way to get her to speak.

"Why do you hurt me like this?" Ludwig asked both in the past and now. There it was again. That fire in her eyes turned cold. He didn't know if it had gotten worse before. His ears caught a low growl.

"Lydia?" he asked. Her moved from his cheeks to his throat. There was life in her eyes now. Only, it was the life of a hungry demon wanting to tear his soul to pieces.

"I want retribution!" she screamed. Her voice didn't even sound human anymore. The wails of a thousand demons could not compare to such a sound. Ludwig could feel his ears bleeding. Nothing about Lydia looked human anymore. The cracks all over her face grew deeper. Blood started leaking out. Her nails dug so deep into the skin that she started to draw his blood. More images started to flood the German man's head.

They used to be so happy. But their relationship wasn't supposed to happen. By 1939, the tide of the Europe turned for the worst. War to end all wars. Looking back, he could only bitterly laugh. The Germans were screwed over and everyone went broke. Desperation can bring out the ugliness of a nation. He saw it all around him. Lydia and her family became scared. He pulled her into his arms and promised that he would protect her.

He should've known that he wouldn't be able to keep such a promise. His boss saw her as ugly and unhuman. She and her family needed to die. The young man could never understand it himself.

"It's not my fault," Ludwig said.

"You were just following orders?" she asked. He slowly nodded. Lydia let go of his throat and rested her head on her lap. She broke into sobbing. Ludwig didn't move. He couldn't be sure if this was an act or real.

"Lydia?" the German man asked. "Lydia? Lydia?" But then, she froze. Ludwig reached out to touch her shoulder. The crying turned into a low growl. When she looked up, Lydia looked like a complete demon. All of the skin on her face looked burned away. The cracks were do deep all over his skin. Blood ran down from where eyes should be. When she opened her mouth, there was no tongue inside. Despite this, loud demonic-like screaming filled the room. Ludwig covered his ears as sank down onto the hospital bed. Lydia jumped forward with her bloody claws at him. It all happened too fast. Ludwig only caught a glimpse of her ruined face.

And then…

The room went quiet.

* * *

Ludwig's body shook like having a seizure in his real hospital bed. A nurse pushed the panic button.

"Doctor! Come quick! I need some assistance!" she screamed over the intercom. Doctors ran into the room to see Ludwig shaking badly. They fought to keep him stable.

"What's going on?!" Gilbert asked as another doctor ran by.

"We don't know," the doctor said. "He just had another attack."

"Another?!" the Prussian asked.

"This is the worst one today," the doctor explained. "We don't know what's causing it. They keep getting more frequent."

"Why aren't you doing anything to stop it?"

"We can't find the source. Like we said, the tests all come back clean. We think it's his brain, but we aren't too sure. All we know that these fits keep getting worse and more frequent. If this keeps up, your brother could end up having irresistible damage to his brain and his body." The doctor pushed up his glasses.

"Are you should he doesn't have a history of epilepsy?" he asked.

"No," Gilbert said, shaking his head. "Isn't there anything you can do to stop these fits?"

"We are taking everything that we can," the doctor said. "We've been giving him medicine to keep him sedated. They have been helping to calm the fits, but we don't know how much long he can take this." Gilbert looked at his brother seizing in his room. Two petite nurses held him down as another doctor drew out the needle.

"We are monitoring these organs as we inject him," the doctor with Gilbert said. "We will let you know when we can find the cause. Until then, we will keep track of how much his heart can take." He dashed into the room with the rest of the doctors and nurses.

"How is he doing?" he asked.

"I just injected him," one of the other doctors said. Gilbert stood in the doorway as his heart sank.

_Ludwig…_

In the corner of the room, Lydia Hansel stood watching her former lover as they tried to sedate him again. She had no emotion on her face. She's been there ever since he was admitted into the hospital. Lydia won't leave until she has her revenge on the man who betrayed her. She wouldn't be the only one.

Despite the rage, she still had small amounts of heartbreak in her empty, soulless eyes.


	8. Russian House

Match Eight: Russian House:

-Ivan-

Their talking blended together for him. If Vozrozhdeniye couldn't have the tadpoles for themselves, they would have to create a being that could rival them. Sure it was his idea, but it was just to shut them up. How was he to know they would take him seriously? Ivan should've expected as much.

"I just about nailed the exact make-up of the tadpoles," Boris said as he pulled up the data on the screen. The group crowded around for a better look. The DNA strand slowly turned on the screen. The bright colors were enough to make Ivan glance up from his knitting. Boris tapped out each part.

"These are the different drugs that have fused with the cells," he said. "Each piece contains a number of elements in a certain drug."

"Can it be separated and broken apart?" Ivan sked.

"No," Boris said. "But I can try and take the sample for closer examination." He got typing to bring up more data. Ivan returned to his knitting. His boss insisted that he had to be here. It's just humoring at this point. They already lost the Dis Program. Kenya, Karp, and Lazar tried to recover Yoemon-sensei's computer, but the hard drive was fried beyond repair. Any data that could get from it was rendered unless.

"It does not matter now," Fyodor told them over Skype. "We have a new angle to capture the tadpoles." He still wouldn't let it go? Ivan just checked out mentally at this point.

Besides, he had something else to worry about.

Ivan himself started to have strange visions. They started off as dreams. He's had nightmares before in the past and practically learned how to block them out. This time, the Russian man could tell this was different.

He saw himself back in the 1950's. The white walls around him looked like they were ready to crush him. His eyes looked so empty. Ivan himself sat on a low bed in this tiny room. He didn't move, but his body told a dark story of self-harm. He didn't want to hurt himself. He just wanted to stop the voices in his head. They made him do these things. They showed him things that would make grown muscled men screamed. It didn't help that he heard a constant tapping when he was in his room.

Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap.

Always those same six taps. Then, there was her.

He didn't look up when the door opened. She always comes in smiling.

"Good morning!" she greeted him. Her smile is a lie. The voices told him about the mask that she always wore.

_Do not believe her lies! She's trying to kill you. She's going to poison you._

Why did she care about him so much? What was her goal? Today, she carried a tray in her hands. She walked over to him. He can never see what she looks like. He just saw her curves in her dress. Speaking of which, said dress blended in with the white around them.

"How are you this morning?" she asked. He never spoke. The voices wouldn't let him. She doesn't notice the war in his head. She seems to talk to herself as she works.

"Your medication seems to be working," she said. "No suicidal thoughts or actions, huh?" He doesn't respond. Does she even notice? Does she even care?

"Good, good," she said. "We'll have you all better soon." She set down the tray. "Time to eat." She fed and bathed him. The voices in his head didn't trust her.

_She's evil. She's trying poison you! You have to kill her!_

Something inside of him snapped and started the final downward spiral.

-Present Day-

Ivan found it hard to focus with these visions. He's been keeping it to himself for a long time now. The members of Vozrozhdeniye would pass it off as stress. They didn't believe in supernatural elements. They were all about science. Even after seeing everything that goes on in Ikebukuro, they still weren't convinced.

Ivan stopped knitting when his phone buzzed. He reached over and looked at the screen with no emotion in his eyes. One new text message. Sender identity unknown. Ivan idlily opened the message.

"We need to talk. See me after the meeting."

Heh, the leader wanted to talk to him, huh? Ivan put his phone back into his pocket. What could Fyodor possibly want he wondered. Commitment to the game? His lack of interest? Or maybe…

This meeting wouldn't be over until morning.

* * *

-Lin Yi-

They've been married for a year. Ivan's been very good to her. He gave her gifts and nice dresses. He took her to Japan when he had a business meeting in Ikebukuro. He never tried to force himself upon her. In fact, they've never had sex. Ever since Lin Yi threw up on their wedding night, Ivan didn't even try to seduce her. They slept in the same bed, but that was about it. Even that took about eight months to happen. Ivan found himself quite surprised when she asked for him to sleep in her bed.

"You are okay with this?" he asked.

"Yes," she said. "I mean, we are married after all. You just seem so lonely in your office every night. It just doesn't feel right." He didn't seem to sure at first, but in the end he gave in. Lin Yi felt so tiny next to him in bed. Ivan didn't come across as a sexual sadist that she heard rumors about. Despite how this marriage started, things started to look up for the couple.

But, Lin Yi couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong with her husband. She was used to him keeping her out of the loop when it came to business. However, there was a problem that he seemed to be bring home with him.

"Welcome home," Lin Yi greeted him when he came up this evening. Ivan looked up with a dull look on his face.

"Oh," he said. "I'm home. His wife frowned.

"What's the matter?" she asked.

"I don't want to talk about it," Ivan said. He walked by her to his office. Lin Yi raised her hand.

"Ivan…" she said. This wasn't the first time she saw it. He left his laptop on one day and Wang Ja showed her something that he saw on the screen.

"What is it?" she asked.

"I was looking around on his computer and I found these," Wang Ja said. Her brother moved the mouse. Lin Yi shook her head confused.

"What am I looking at?" she asked. "It's all in Russian. Why are you showing me this?"

"I've been learning how to read Russian over time," he said. "He's been looking up something past lives. Not only that but look at this." Wang Ja brought up another file on the computer.

"What is this?" Lin Yi asked.

"Mental hospital records that date back to the 1950's," the Hong Kong man said. "He's been looking them up for weeks now. I can't figure out why just yet, but I will get us out of here." His sister blinked.

"Do you think we should be doing this?" she asked.

"This will get us out of that bastard's house," Wang Ja said.

"Why?" Lin Yi asked. Her brother turned to her with an odd look on his face.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"He's not that bad once you get to know him," she said. Wang Ja turned to her.

"What are you talking about?" he asked. "He's a tyrant. Haven't you heard the stories?"

"Well yeah… But, he's been good to me," Lin Yi said.

"Have you gone crazy?! We were forced here against our will. We were happy back at home! When was the last time you saw any other our siblings?!"

"Three weeks ago."

"Okay, there was Kiku. But what about the others?"

"I don't know…"

"That's what I'm talking about! He's cutting us off from family."

"No, he isn't. I can still see Yao if I want to."

"Then why haven't you?"

"I'm still mad at him. Look, can you please close that laptop? I'm not supposed to be in here."

Wang Jas was about to speak when they heard the front door open. He cursed himself under his breath. "Damn it, why are you doing this now?"

"I'm home!" Ivan called from the doorway.

"I'll be down in a second!" Lin Yi shouted. She ran out of the office to greet her husband. Wang Ja frowned and shook his head.

* * *

On the plus side, Lin Yi wasn't alone in noticing something wrong with her husband.

"How has Ivan been doing?" Katsuya asked.

"Fine, I guess," Lin Yi said. She hesitated at first. "Actually, I'm worried about him." The young wife half-expected her sister-in-law to ask her what she meant. Instead, Katsuya stared her down.

"Is he having dreams again?" she asked.

"Dreams?" Lin Yi asked.

"I don't know how to explain it," Katsuya said. "But, he's been more withdrawn lately. The other day he asked me about mental hospitals that were open and running back in the 50's."

"Why would he about something like that?" the young wife asked. She thought back to all of the Google searches that her brother showed her the other day.

"I can't really say myself," her sister-in-law said. "He's had nightmares like these before." Katsuya's smile started to dim. "Though… it's not been like this before."

"What do you mean?" Lin Yi asked. The Ukrainian woman brushed her off.

"It's probably nothing," she said. "It might pass in a few weeks. I wouldn't worry about it if were you. That's how he is at times."

"Yeah…" the young wife said, making herself smile. Somehow, she didn't seem to be convinced to hear that. Maybe her worries are warranted.

* * *

-Wang Ja-

His case is gaining momentum. Wang Ja has been witness to the Vozrozhdeniye meetings. The butler has been picking up on Russian over the past year. He managed to pick up hearing something about a game. Like hell he would ask his boss about it.

"He never talks about business with us," Toris told him. "We don't even try to ask."

"That's not right," Wang Ja complained.

"That's just how it is," his colleague said. The Hong Kong man clenched his fists at his sides and gritted his teeth.

"So frustrating," he grumbled. That didn't stop his quest to void the arrangement. It didn't help that Lin Yi started to want to stay. How could she want to stay in the marriage to a man who had the sadistic nature of a child? Wang Ja wanted to scream at the Baltic states for not standing up to their boss. He was determined to not be as weak as them.

Lucky for him, Wang Ja might have the evidence to get him and Lin Yi free from their arrangement.

The butler had been doing his homework on Vozrozhdeniye. These people were hardcore supporters of the Soviet Union. There were rumors about human experimentation. The more he looked, the more Wang Ja saw red flags. Coupled with Ivan's mental state as of late, the Hong Kong thought that he would be able to get himself and his sister out and maybe go to America. Or at least somewhere that Russian government would not touch them. If only he could translate more Russian into Chinese and put the pieces together.

His luck and chances would get better with one e-mail.


	9. Bitter Trusting

Match Nine: Bitter Trusting:

Wang Ja made it back to his room. He managed to make his isolated room his own. When the Baltic states stepped in, they felt like they were stepping into Hong Kong itself. Wang Ja made his room his sanctuary.

He sat down at his laptop and booted it up. Ah, the internet. Without it, people would've gone nuts a long time ago. Many a night Wang Ja found it as his stress ball. He'd look up many things through Google. (Heh, who knew he would have access to Google again. Why couldn't China just lighten up and let them have it?) He had to be careful, though. Ivan would check the internet about 99.8% of the time. Wang Ja managed to work his way around this nagging fact. Incognito was such a gift to the browsers around the world.

That wasn't the only thing he had on his laptop.

Wang Ja opened up his translation program on his desktop. He downloaded from the internet. The butler was careful to do his research beforehand. He read the reviews and the feedback before downloading and installing. Wang Ja set the default of Russian to Chinese. He got started on the first document.

"Come on, you bastard," he said to himself. "What are you hiding in your e-mails?" As Wang Ja waited for the results, a notification popped up on his screen.

"Hm?" he asked. Seventy-eight new messages. Wang Ja shrugged to himself. Why not? Might as well knock as couple of e-mails out while he waits. The butler opened his e-mail and looked through the inbox. Mostly just notices about the various groups he was on. Another e-mail from Yao. Wang Ja rolled his eyes. His brother still tried to kiss up to him, huh? This was all Yao's fault anyway. Oh well, forget about him for now. Spam that tried to pass itself off as normal e-mails.

But then, he stopped on one certain e-mail.

Mi-Soon had sent him something. "Urgent! Please Reply ASAP!" Wang Ja stared at his screen. He like the other siblings hadn't heard from her in years. After the Korean War, they all took Im Yong's side. Mi-Soon cut herself off from everyone else. Why would she be reaching out now?

Against his better judgement, he clicked on the e-mail. He wasn't the only one she sent this too. All of the siblings got this e-mail. Wang Ja's eyes moved down the message.

I have to keep this short because I am not supposed to tell you this. But, I can't keep this a secret anymore. You might call me crazy, I don't care. This has to come out.

The world is ending. There are three forces at play: Tandeki, Vozrozhdeniye, and Mam. Our intelligence is saying that Japan, Russia, and England are in a race to bring the world to an end.

Wang Ja read the last line again and again. Russia wants to end the world? As much he wanted to celebrate about finding this out, something told him not to get his hopes up.

Then another notice popped up on his screen. This time, for a private chat session. Low and behold it was Mi-Soon inviting him to talk. Something told Wang Ja to decline. This was a rabbit hole waiting to happen. What kind of conspiracy theories could she drag him down? It sounded to dangerous. Maybe he should decline.

The Hong Kong man hit accept. A chat window popped up on the screen.

"Hello?" he typed. Wang Ja held his breath as he waited. He had never had to use chat on his laptop while living in Ivan's house. He hadn't even changed the setting after the update yet. Maybe she won't even reply back.

"Hi," Mi-Soon wrote back.

Wang Ja sat up in his chair. "Is this really Mi-Soon?" He waited for the reply.

"Yes," she wrote back. The Hong Kong man stared at the screen. Okay then, she could actually be her.

"Prove it," Wang Ja typed. He sat back and waited. Suddenly, a video feed popped up. A girl in a military uniform sat at a computer. There was she was.

"I am here," she typed. "Can you see me?" Okay, there was the proof. Wang Ja looked around for a moment.

"Can you see me?" Mi-Soon typed again. Her brother took in a breath.

"Let's do this with the mics," he typed.

"Okay," she typed back. Wang Ja reached into his desk drawer and pulled out his microphone headset. Mi-Soon did the same.

"Can you hear me?" she asked.

"Yes," he said.

"Oh, good."

Wang Ja narrowed his eyes at her. "What was with that weird e-mail? What are you talking about the world is ending?" As much he wanted the Russia part to be turn, part of him hoped that this was hoax at his expense.

"Just exactly as I wrote." The look on her face told him everything he feared.

"Why would they do that?" Wang Ja asked.

"I can't say for sure." She glanced over her shoulder and bit her lower lip. Her brother blinked.

"I don't get it," he said.

"Get what?" Mi-Soon asked.

"Why are you telling me this?"

Mi-Soon lowered her eyes. "I don't want my family to die. It's already too late for Kiku."

"What do you mean by that?"

"The Woman in Red has taken him."

"You're not making any sense." Instinct told him to end the chat, log off, forget the whole time. Under normal circumstances, this would a crackpot spouting conspiracy theories on the internet just for kicks. Wang Ja hoped that this was a prank. If it was, it was going on for too long. Her face told him otherwise.

"It's hard for me to explain without disobeying orders," Mi-Soon said. "I'm risking everything just by talking you now."

"This isn't funny anymore," her brother said. "Stop this joke."

"It's not a joke," she said. Her words made him shiver.

"Wang Ja, who are you talking to?" Toris asked as he knocked on the door.

"Family!" Wang Ja shouted as he looked at the door.

"Could you please keep it down?" Toris asked.

"Sure," the Hong Kong man said. He turned back to his screen. "I'm sorry, that was my roommate." Mi-Soon gave him a strange look.

"I thought you lived alone," she said.

"Long story," he said, waving her off. Thinking about his situation made him angrier. Wang Ja forced himself to think about something else.

"Who else have you told about this?" he asked.

"Im Yong," Mi-Soon said.

"And what did he say?"

"I'm not sure if he believes me or not."

"I see." Slowly, Wang Ja began to build up a picture of how to get Lin Yi and himself out of this predicament. If everything Mi-Soon said was true, this could dissolve the agreement in a snap. He just needed more evidence to back up his claims.

Ping sound went off in his headset. Wang Ja jumped to attention.

"Something wrong?" Mi-Soon asked.

"Oh, no," her brother said. "Hang on." He pulled up his translation program. The first page of the document came up translated into Chinese. Wang Ja dove into reading it.

"Wang Ja?" Mi-Soon asked. He kept reading. Nothing stood out in the beginning. There was a quote from the Book of Revelation in the beginning.

"Hello?" his sister asked. Wang Ja froze when he started on the line after the quote.

We are seeking out war. This modern world cannot go on like this. They don't see the rot that is spreading. Russia is dying and so is the rest of the world. We need to purge it for the third World War approaching us. We've seen the end for fifty years now. Our savior the Woman in Red is here to usher us into victory.

Wang Ja's face became so pale. He turned to Mi-Soon who had been calling him for the past couple of minutes.

"Mi-Soon," he said.

"Yes?" she asked.

"Who is the Woman in Red?"

She lowered her eyes as she looked away from the screen. "I can't tell you about that."

"What do you mean? Why not?"

"Good night, my dear brother. Please be careful." Mi-Soon disconnected from the chat before Wang Ja could ask another question. He stared at the screen. That conversation though brief, drew him into a fear that he thought couldn't have existed. This must be bad if Mi-Soon would risk her life to reach out to him. It didn't feel like a prank at all. The butler took a breath.

_Right…_

He saved the translated documents in a file hidden on his computer. No way he would let Ivan get his hands on anything on his laptop. This translation program would take days to translate everything. Fine by him. He can bide his time. That's what he's been doing all of this time. Wang Ja looked at the clock on his laptop. It would be six in the morning soon. He would have to make breakfast for the husband and wife soon.

The butler snorted to himself.

Like hell he was going to do this for the rest of his life. He and his sister needed to get out of this hell as soon as possible. But, did Lin Yi really want to leave her husband now?


	10. Dragon Tree

Match Ten: Dragon Tree:

Every time Alfred saw Florence she looked like she was slowly wasting away. When did she lose that much weight?

"Has she been eating, dude?" he asked as they all sat in the den.

"I feed her, but she won't eat," Lydia whispered back. "She always says that she isn't hungry." Florence looked half-asleep on the couch. Her color had been drained of any color. It felt jarring to see her like this in summer.

Alfred stood up.

"That's it," he said. "We're going outside." Lydia turned her head with a confused look on her face.

"She's too sick to go anywhere," she complained.

"We're not going anywhere," Alfred said. "We're just going outside into the back yard."

"Why?" Lydia asked.

"Better than staying in here, isn't it?" he asked.

"Huh?" she asked. The American man leaned in close and broke into a huge grin.

* * *

The three of them ended up in the back yard. Florence sat in a lounge chair in the sun. She reminds Alfred of a wilting flower.

"She needs a hat," he said. Lydia wrinkled her nose.

"What?" Alfred asked. She snorted and rolled her eyes.

"Haven't you done enough?" she asked.

"What do you mean?" he asked. Lydia sighed and rubbed her forehead.

"What's the point?" she asked. "My sister's going to be dead soon anyway. It's not like you're even that close anyway."

"Well, I am trying to be," he said.

"But why?"

"I've quite fallen for her over our times together." He noticed Lydia's face when she wrinkled nose.

"What?" he asked.

"You for real?" she asked.

"Yes," Alfred said, nodding.

"Whatever," Lydia muttered. The American man looked around the big yard. He spotted the garden over in the distance. Alfred raised his eyebrow at how green and beautiful it looked.

"You've been taking care of the garden?" he asked.

"Yeah," Lydia said, looking down at the ground. "It wouldn't feel right to let it die out like that." Alfred got up and walked over to the fenced off garden. So many plants stuck up from the ground. He could see little white flowers in bloom on some of them.

"Wow, man," he said. "These look great. What all are you growing?"

"This and that," she replied. Lydia stood up and walked over to the garden.

"You did this yourself?" Alfred asked. "Dude."

"I had to," she said.

"Oh, of course. Um… Can I help out sometime?"

"Sure."

The American man lifted his head. "You serious?"

"Might as well. You come around here anyway."

"Nice."

"Whatever."

Alfred glanced over at Florence sitting in the sun. She looked like she was taking a nap at the moment. He couldn't remember a time where she was fully awake over the past couple of weeks. The American man almost envied how peaceful she looked. He thought that she was smiling at one point.

He had no idea what drove him to say the next thing.

"Do you believe in past lives?" Alfred asked. Lydia turned her head with a confused look on her face.

"Huh?" she asked. The American man froze.

"What?" he asked.

"What are you talking about?" Lydia asked. Alfred stood blinking as he seemed to blank out.

"I… I don't know," he said. The young girl tilted her head.

"Are you feeling okay?" she asked.

"No…" he said. Alfred turned and walked into the house.

"Alfred?" Lydia asked. The glass door closed behind him.

* * *

-1991-

He's been here before.

The teenage boy sat on the floor of the stall, crying. He couldn't take this anymore. How many times had he been down this path? He tried to pull himself out of it, but that old trick wasn't working anymore. He shut his eyes as more tears filled them.

Class would be starting now. He guessed that he would have to say that he was sick again to hide in the nurse's office. Even she looks at him in pity. His stomach became knotted up once again. He wished that he could break this cycle. How did this get to this point?

Last night, he spent all night crying and talking to her on the phone.

"I don't know how much more I can take of this," he whimpered. More tears welled up in his eyes.

"Shhh," she said over the phone. "You know I am here for you." He wiped his nose.

"It just gets so hard every day."

"I know." How could she stand to say with him all of this time? She had been by his side since they were little kids. She listened to him cry and wail over the phone every night. He cried on her shoulder throughout high school. She had been the one to pull him out of his darkest. He didn't know how she did it.

But, every person has their limits. He pushed hers the night that she came over to his house days before his death. He could never forgive himself for breaking her like that. Her only sin was she was trying to save him from himself. She could've just walked away. But she didn't. He almost asked her why at one point. She gave him a sympathetic smile. He couldn't see her gestures of love nor could he understand them.

She had a boyfriend at the time. The boyfriend was the start of how things fell out into despair. He never liked the suffering boy. He thought that he was using his girlfriend. The boyfriend tried to break up the friends. She wouldn't take it.

"He is my friend!" she said. "I just can't leave him."

"Why do you care so much about that weirdo?" her boyfriend asked.

"Don't call him a weirdo!"

"But he is a weirdo!"

"Well, he's  _my_  weirdo!" He always became the subject of their arguments. By senior year, things got worse. She broke up with her boyfriend days before graduation. She had been worn down by the time she reached her dear friend's house. Why didn't he turn her away? In their misery, they made things worse. When she came over, he was quite surprised.

"What are you doing here?" he asked. She leaned against his chest, crying.

"What happened?" he asked. "What did [name] do now?" She just looked up and kissed him. He should've pushed her off. They were lost in their moment of need. Because of this, they ended up in his room. Because of that, everything came crashing down.

He would take this regret to his grave.

* * *

-Reality-

Alfred stood in Florence's room, rubbing his forehead. What was this? The room felt like it was spinning. What did he come up here for? The last thing he could remember was standing around in the back yard looking at the garden. Alfred closed his eyes and tried to think.

_Why am I up here?_

The American man walked over to the back window. Florence and Lydia were still standing outside. They were probably wondering where he went off to. Alfred took in a deep breath.

"Right," he said. He needed an excuse to be in Florence's room. Alfred started looking around. He did think that she needed a hat. Now where would a hat be in a bedroom like this? The American man walked over to the closet. After about two or three minutes, he found a cute straw hat with a red ribbon around it.

"Perfect," the American man said. Alfred closed the closet and walked out of the room.

* * *

Lydia looked up when she heard the glass door opening. Alfred stood in the doorway, smiling.

"Yo," he said. The younger woman narrowed her eyes.

"What took you so long?" she asked.

"I went to the bathroom and looked for a hat for Florence," he said. Lydia tilted her head.

"Why?" she asked.

"I just thought she would want something to keep her cool while we're out here," he said. Alfred walked over to Florence in the chair and put the hat on her head. The tree woman looked up at him. He smiled and waved at her.

"Yo!" Alfred said.

"Alfred," Florence said. Her tired smile reminded him of that girl he kept saying in those strange flashbacks. He couldn't exactly trace why…


	11. Date, Lunch, and Conversation

Match Eleven: Date, Lunch, and Conversation:

-Ju-

Yao and I went out on our date on Sunday. I decided to keep everything simple. I waited for the front door. Usually, it's the woman that takes time to get ready. I'm surprised that I got done before Yao did this morning. I looked at my phone.

"Babe, are you done yet?" I asked.

"Just a second," Yao said. He said that five minutes ago. I sighed and rolled my eyes. And I thought I was bad to get ready to go somewhere. If he keeps this up, most of the date will have to be tomorrow morning. I looked up when I heard footsteps. Yao walked down the stairs dressed in his finest. I smiled and shook my head.

"You didn't have to dress up," I said. "It's just a causal date."

"I still wanted to look nice," he said. I smiled and walked over to kiss him. He pulled me into his arms.

"Ready to go?" Yao whispered.

"Oh yes," I said. I stood on my tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek. My husband chuckled and pulled me along with him.

* * *

Today was going to be a nice day out. I held onto Yao's arm, smiling.

"What?" he asked.

"Oh, nothing," I said. I giggled. "I love you."

"I love you too, dear," he said. We walked up to a crosswalk and waited for the light.

"So what do you want to do today?" I asked.

"I don't know," he said. I cuddled up, smiling.

"I don't really want to go anyway," I said. "We can just walk around the city." Yao looked down at me.

"That all?" he asked.

"Well, I figured we could stop somewhere to eat too," I added. "You can come up with certain stops that you want to check out on our walk."

"Sure," Yao said. I giggled. We began our walk when the crosswalk light changed. Yao's suit made him look so much older. He probably looked like my grandfather next to me.

"You didn't have to wear the tie at least," I said.

"What's wrong with my tie?" he asked. I shook my head.

"Nothing, dear," I said. I didn't forget the full objective of this date, though. I had to be delicate about how I wanted to go about it. It would be best to start off light and then go into it throughout the day.

"I don't want to raise Little Bean like a boxed-up statistic," I said aloud.

"Huh?" Yao asked.

"You know," I said. "Pink is for girls and blue is for boys. It's so dumb and old-fashioned."

"What's wrong with old-fashioned?"

"It's not good all of the time. I want Little Bean to be treated like an equal and to respect others no matter the gender. That goes for naming the child. I want to go unisex names."

"Where is all of this coming from? Did Tina suggest all of this?"

"No."

"What's with all of the modern stuff?"

"It's not that modern." I looked over at the shops to my right. "Actually, I'm kind of hoping for a boy."

Yao gave me a strange look. "Why is that?" I shrugged my shoulders and moved my head around.

"It's kind of a long story," I muttered. "It's a family curse thing."

"Family curse?" he asked. I pressed my lips together. I've told this story before and telling it now just makes me worried.

"Well…" I began. "Most of the babies born on my mother's side have been girls."

"So?" he asked.

"It's kind of weird, actually," I said. "After the girls were born, the parents couldn't have anymore children. They've tried, but the men couldn't get their wives pregnant again. Sure, grandma had twins, but one was a boy and the other was a girl."

"How is that even possible?" Yao asked.

"I don't know. It's never been explained to me. I think the sperm count dropped after the girl was born. It doesn't make sense, but that's the best I can come up with. Same thing happened to my father." I moved my hand over my stomach.

"And you hope that Little Bean will be a boy?"

"Yes." I pressed my lips together again.

"You sure you don't want to find out the sex?"

"Yes, I just want to wait until the baby's born," I said. Yao patted me on the head.

"Okay," he said. I smiled and rested my cheek on his arm.

"How did I end up with a good man?" I asked.

"Luck, I suppose," he said. "And your father." I looked up at him with a confused look on his face. Yao pretended like he didn't say that last part. Somehow it doesn't surprise me that my father would be in on this whole relationship.

But, I won't complain.

* * *

Our walk was a welcome change from paperwork and being in the home office. Yao looked so relaxed for a change. It's so nice to not think about work for a change. Hen-to and Fei have us covered. They could handle whatever scheme that Jianjun and Junjie are cooking up.

Damn it, I'm thinking about work on a date. I'm not supposed to be doing that.

"Would you like to check out a museum today?" I asked.

"Sure," Yao said.

"Let's do it after lunch," I said.

"Works for me," he said.

"You know, we've never really had a date like this before."

"We haven't?"

I shook my head. "Our relationship just kind of got thrown together. If we weren't having sex, we were working. I had the clan to manage and school. Heck, we got married to keep the clan together." I paused and shook my head.

"We've never just had time to ourselves, you know?" I asked.

"I understand," he said. "We'll try to have more dates more often."

"Yeah," I said. I started to get lost in my own glow. It looked like it would rain soon, but that didn't change anything. Right away, an idea came into my head.

"Hey, let's go stop somewhere for tea," I said.

"Where do you want to go?" Yao asked. I broke into a huge smile.

"I know just the place," I said.

* * *

We ended up at a small and trendy café downtown. I think opened last week. Yao had an odd look on his face.

"Why is this so pink?" he asked.

"It's supposed to be romantic," I said. I began to frown a little bit. "Though, they could tone it down with the pink decorations." The hearts were enough to make my teeth hurt.

"Let's just get a table," I said.

"Right," he said. We chose a table by the window. Even the glass was tinted pink. Lately, these cafés were trying to look like the ones over in Japan. The maids were dressed up like little cherubs. Cotton candy clouds and gold heart hung from the ceiling. Old Chinese music filled the room. I looked around with my lips pressed together.

"I heard the food's nice here," I said.

"Hm," Yao said. I quickly looked around.

"Is it a little…?" I began to ask.

"Much?" he finished. I slowly nodded. That's when a waitress dressed in pink walked up to our table.

"Welcome!" she said. "I will be your server today. What can I get you to drink?"

"Just tea, please," I said.

"Okay!" the waitress said. "I will be with you in a minute." Her skirt pounded as she walked away. My eyes shifted back to Yao. I guess now would be a good time to talk to him for a little bit. I cleared my throat. His eyes shifted back to me.

"Yes?" he asked. Best to go about this gently.

"How have you been lately?" I asked.

"Good," he said. His tone isn't giving too much away. Just keep things causal. I drew in a slow breath.

"I know that things are stressful lately," I began with. "The baby coming in a few months. The clan business is trying a risky move. Jianjun and Junjie are on the loose…" Yao gave me a strange look.

"What are you saying?" he asked. I gently took his hand.

"I'm saying that if you want to talk, I am here," I said. "I don't know if I can help, but I want to at least be an ear you can spill your heart out to." That came out just right. I didn't sound too prying and I think got the message across. Yao looked away.

"Thanks," he mumbled. I think I got to him. It would be up to him to say it first. I shouldn't push it or else I will scare him off. No matter what happens, I will get to the bottom of what's going on with him.

The waitress came back with her tea.

"Here you are," she said.

"Thank you," I said.

"Are you ready to order?" the waitress asked.

"Give us about five minutes," Yao said. I only nodded.

"Okay," the waitress said. She bowed and walked away. Yao picked up his menu and started looking at the items. I narrowed my eyes as I did the same.

"The sandwiches look good," I said.

"Yeah," he said. This will do for now. I will have to do much research and wait for him to talk. I pushed the thoughts out of my head to enjoy the rest of this date.


	12. Hachishakusama

Match Twelve: Hachishakusama:

Kiku has a new therapist today. The younger man sat across the room in his black and grey suit. He took out a notepad and began taking notes.

"Do you think you're having a nervous breakdown?" he asked. Kiku looked like he hadn't slept in days. He bit down on his thumb.

"Yes," he said.

"What do you think is the cause of it?" the therapist asked. The Woman in Red stood in the corner on Kiku's side of the room. She didn't speak. Does she really need to? The older man lowered his dull eyes.

"I'm scared of her," he whispered. The therapist raised his eyebrow.

"Sena-san?" he asked. Kiku shook his head.

"Then who?"

"I can't say." This is what happened the last time he was in therapy. These lines of questions led to the last doctor's death. The younger man quietly took notes.

"How long have you had these nightmares?" he asked.

"Over two years," Kiku muttered. The clock ticking in the background reminded him that the end was near. He looked down at his black, swollen wrists. He could feel the skin starting to itch again.

"Are they staying the same or getting worse?" the therapist asked.

"Worse."

"Tell me about them."

"I can't."

"Well, do the best you can? Are they consistent?"

Kiku nodded once. He didn't look up as his therapist took more notes. What could he be writing? The younger man's hands reminded him of his former therapist's. Kiku pressed his lips together.

"What did they tell you about me?" he asked. The therapist looked up.

"Excuse me?" he asked. Kiku drew his knees to his chest.

"My other therapist… they found him in the toilet…" he said.

"Yes, I read it in the news," the younger man said. "Such a tragedy." Ah yes, the other therapist. It was a horror the way he was found. The therapist was found dead in the stall with his throat violently slashed. The investigation turned up some rather disturbing details. It didn't look like a blade cut the therapist's throat. The coroner thought the cut looked like claws. There was no evidence of any animal that ran lose through the building. Security footage showed no one breaking into the center. The only people there at the time were a couple of psychiatrists and the janitor. Staff was all accounted for.

Kiku felt along his throat.

"We were all devastated by Ono-sensei's passing," the younger therapist said.

"Do you know how he died?" Kiku asked in a hoarse whisper. The therapist looked up again.

"Hm?" he asked.

"Do you know how he died?"

"Someone broke in and slashed his throat."

"No."

"That's what the news says."

Kiku shook his head. His mind screamed at him to stop talking, shut up. He began trembling as he turned pale. The therapist narrowed his eyes.

"Are you okay?" he asked. Kiku slowly shook his head.

"Are you sick?" the therapist asked.

"Yes!" the older man croaked out. He watched as his therapist closed up his notes and took off his glasses.

"Why don't we take a break?" he offered. "Go to the bathroom and pull yourself together, okay?" Kiku didn't response. He could already see how this would play out. The therapist reached out to touch the older man on the arm.

"Don't!" Kiku said. The younger man drew back his hand.

"Okay," he said. "Just to the bathroom and cool down for a better. We'll resume the session when you get back, okay?" Kiku slowly rose to his feet and walked out of the room. The therapist walked as the door closed behind him. He returned to his notes.

* * *

Close to an hour later, the therapist looked at the black and white clock on the wall. He looked down at his notes and tapped his pen on the paper. This was just like his predecessor. Kiku didn't talk much doing those sessions towards the end. Did the patient have something to do with Ono-sensei's death? The younger therapist rubbed his forehead.

He turned to his door.

_Is he okay?_

The therapist pressed his lips together. He tried not to think of the worst. Maybe, Kiku was just taking his time in the bathroom. Still, he couldn't shake this nasty feeling in his gut. The therapist got up and walked out of his office. He looked around in the hall.

"Hello?" he asked. He spotted one of his colleagues walking by.

"Excuse me," the male therapist said. The colleague turned her head.

"Komori-sensei?" she asked. He stepped out into the hall.

"You haven't seen Honda-san out here by any chance, have you?" the therapist asked. The colleague took a minute to think.

"No, I haven't," she said.

"I see," Komori-sensei said. He headed down to the restroom.

"Everything okay?" his colleague asked. The therapist didn't answer.

Komori-sensei made it down to the bathroom. He stuck his head inside the door.

"Honda-san?" the therapist whispered. "Are you okay in here? Hello?" Komori-sensei slowly crept into the bathroom as quietly as he could. He froze when he heard talking, two people talking in fact. One was Kiku himself and the other sounded like a woman in a stall.

"I do not like him. He's starting to pry too close."

"No, please don't."

"We have no choice."

"Please!"

"I'm sorry my love."

"Stop! Stop it please!"

"My love, I do this for you. You know this, right?" The woman giggled as sobbing filled the bathroom.

"Shhh. You know how this goes. Don't try to stop it. The last time you did that, it backfired on you. Fighting me would be useless."

"Honda-san?" the therapist asked. He trailed the voices to the last stall in the men's room. He slowly knocked on the door.

"Honda-san?" he asked again. Komori-sensei pushed open the door. To his surprise, Kiku sat alone on the stall floor.

"Honda-san?" the therapist asked again. The other man slowly lifted his head.

"Are your okay?" Komori-sensei asked. "You were taking so long that I got worried about you. So, I came down to check on you." His client didn't answer. Kiku looked even more worn down than before he took that break. The bags under his eyes became heavier. He was biting on his thumb even more.

"Was there someone else in here with you just now?" the therapist asked. Kiku rose to his feet.

"Honda… -san?" Komori-sensei asked.

"I'm tired," Kiku said at last. He walked past the therapist and walked out of the bathroom.

"Honda-san?" the therapist asked. The door swung closed behind the patient.

* * *

Later in the evening, Komori-sensei looked at his notes again. Of course, he had to take down what he saw in the bathroom. He could've sworn that he heard a woman talking to Kiku before he opened the stall door. But where did she go?

Komori-sensei turned the page and frowned. Before with the last therapist, Kiku talked about seeing a schoolgirl about fifteen years old covered in black. By the description, she looked like a girl that had been murdered by her mother in Ikebukuro back in 1987. This girl also had a younger sister who was about six years old. Kiku didn't have any connection with the girls or their parents. Neither one of those girls could be the woman that was talking to the patient in the bathroom. The older girl was fifteen at the time of her death and her sister was six years old when she disappeared. That woman sounded like she was in her late twenties to early thirties.

Suddenly, the lights in his office started to flicker. Komori-sensei looked around.  _This office is barely used_ , he thought.  _The lights have been fine all day._  The therapist froze as his eyes shifted back and forth.

"Hello?" he asked. There weren't many people on shift left in the building this evening. As far as he could see, he was the only one in the room. Komori-sensei shook his head.

"What am I doing?" he asked himself. "I should be home right now." The notes on Kiku would have to come tomorrow.

"I need a drink," Komori-sensei muttered. Once he packed up his notes into his briefcase, the therapist walked out of the office. When lights went out, Isobe Hisayo stood off in the corner, silent.


	13. Dionysus

Match Thirteen: Dionysus:

"Can you see my reigns?" Dio asked once again. Heracles stood in front of him.

"Yes," the Greek man said.

"Tell me what you see," the centaur said. Heracles narrowed his eyes.

"I see the outline."

"What color are they?"

"Brown…?"

"Are you sure about that?"

Heracles nodded. "Yes."

"Any designs on it?"

"No…"

The Greek man shook his head. The centaur frowned as he started thinking. Ancient Greece could see his reigns right away. She was able to take control easily. Granted, Heracles has been studying the magic of Greek Goddess witch Hecate. He seemed to be understanding it so well. But, something was missioned. Dio couldn't quite put his finger on it. He took in a breath.

"Run by me what you see," Dio said.

"The outline of your brown leather reigns," Heracles said.

"But no designs?"

"No."

"Okay. Try to grab them."

"Okay." The Greek man reached out for the faded reigns. He could take hold of them this time. So far, no burns.

"How is it?" Dio asked.

"Fine," Heracles said. But then, he paused. The Greek man winced in pain.

"Heracles?" the Great Beast asked.

"No!" the Greek man was quick to say. "It's fine, really." The burning pain started to sink in, but he wouldn't let go.

"Heracles!" Dio shouted.

"I can do this!" Heracles yelled. They could see the smoke coming from the reigns. Dio had to shove him off. The Greek man backed up, panting.

"Why did you stop me?" he asked.

"You still aren't ready," Dio said. "Your hands shouldn't burn when you grab my reigns." Heracles frowned.

"I don't understand it!" he complained. "I've been studying so hard."

"Yes, I know," the centaur said. "I think there is something missing." Heracles groaned and rubbed his forehead. Dio smacked him on the back.

"Don't worry, friend!" he said. "We'll find a solution!"

"Ow," the Greek man murmured, rubbing his back. Dio made his way back to the house.

"Come now," he said. "We can't think on an empty stomach. Off fore more booze and food!" Dio disappeared into the house. Heracles sighed.  _Again?_

Heracles sighed and followed him inside.

* * *

Dio walked into the kitchen. It was possible to learn magic later in life. It took time. Something they didn't have. Dio looked behind him.

"Are you in here?" he asked. He got no answer. Good. Dio reached over and cut on the faucet. He plugged up and let the sink fill. When the warm water reached the edge, the Great Beast turned it off. Dio touched the surface of the water. His eyes rolled back into his head.

_Hello? Can you hear me?_

Crackling filled the air.

_Hello? Can you hear me? Hello? Make a sound if you can hear me._

Crackling and popping in the air followed.

_Ha! Good, good. We have a bit of a problem._

_He can't take control, can he?_

_No. I don't know what the problem. He's been studying the magic so hard._

_So… What's the problem?_

_I don't know. He's starting to see my reigns more. Can't see the design, but can see the color and outline._

_You know that is not good enough._

_I know. We don't have enough time. Five gates have already been opened._

_What? That can't be possible._

_I'm afraid it is._

_But how? They have never been able to move this fast before. Unless…_

_Yes._

_This isn't good._

_No._

_So have they joined forces at last?_

_Not quite. He still doesn't trust them, but he's making a bargain to get the gates opened._

_What is he giving them in return?_

_I'm not too sure. I'm thinking information at most._

_What will you do if he can't take the reigns?_

_He can do it. He is his mother's child after all._

_But she's been studying our lady Hecate's magic for years. Can even take learn the magic in such a short amount of time?_

_He has to. We don't have a choice._

The connection started to shorten with the sound of sparks filling the air. Dio tried to keep his focus.

_I will have to go. I can't stay long._

_Wait. What do you want us to do here?_

_Keeping observing. Doing unnecessary actions will danger us even further._

_Understood. We wish you luck._

_Same to you too._

Dio came back to reality and drew back his hand from the water. He looked around the kitchen. Everything was just as silent as when he started his communication.

"Dio?" Heracles asked from the front door. "Are you in here?" The Great Beast forced himself to smile. It's best that his new master didn't know the situation just yet until he could grab the reigns without burning himself.

"Uh… I'm in here in the kitchen!" Dio said. "What would you like to eat?"

"Just whatever, really," the Greek man said.

"Okay," the centaur said. "You just sit at the table and I will whip up something for you." There was a pause.

"Wait, you can cook?" Heracles asked.

"Of course!" Dio said.

"Okay then…"

"Come on! Have a little faith in me, man! You've been working so hard. Let me treat you for a change. You just take a seat and let me do the rest, got it?"

"Alright."

"Thanks." Dio walked over to the fridge and opened the door. He frowned as he looked inside.  _Hm, looks like it's time to get more wine._  Dio forced himself to get back on track and look for something to whip up breakfast with.


	14. Cemeteries of London

Match Fourteen: Cemeteries of London:

They barely see Arthur around anymore. He won't answer their calls. How can he? Lucy had his phone. She frowned as she looked through his messages.

"Hm… I don't like any of these people," Lucy said. Arthur sat in the corner staring at her with big, empty eyes. The nightcomer smiled.

"Time for them all to go bye-bye!" she said. Lucy went through the contacts menu and started deleting the numbers all of the other countries.

"America, bye-bye. China, bye-bye. France… maybe… Just kidding, bye-bye! Spain, bye-bye. Sealand, bye-bye. Japan, bye-bye," she said as she went down the list. "Russia, bye-bye! Germany, bye-bye! You know what? Bye-bye to all of them!" With one more button, all of his contacts were gone.

"Ah, that's better!" Lucy said. "I will still be keeping your phone. In fact…" She opened it up and took out the battery. The nightcomer chucked it out the window. Afterwards, she locked the phone up in a kitchen drawer.

"There!" Lucy said. "You know something, I've never really liked cell phones. They are the bane of my existence. Everyone in Ikebukuro is addicted to their cell phones. Bloody things. This just made me feel so much better!" Lucy walked out of the kitchen. Arthur just sat there and let her do it. They've taken his will to fight back.

First was Hecate. Then Allison. And now Lucy finished him off. Speaking of which…

Lucy glanced over her shoulder. "Oh and one more thing." Arthur lifted his head. He could see the icy fire in her eyes.

"I will be going through laptop and other electronic devices," she said. "Don't do anything stupid." And then she was gone.

* * *

Arthur barely moves anymore. He just laid there in bed. Hecate caressed his cheek.

"Are you afraid?"

"…"

"Don't be. Just embrace it already. We're just about done with opening the gates. It will all be better." Such cruel words dipped in sweet honey. Arthur closed his eyes and winced.

Meanwhile, Hecate has her own agenda. It would not be wise to withhold information from their mother. But, she's found a way. She too has seen the many outcomes of this game. She has seen the winners.

_Mother's plan will not work._

Hecate won't say that out loud however. She has to smile and be loyal. They all needed each other after all. They just didn't like each other.

Hecate kissed Arthur on the back. "Give yourself completely over to us."

He shook his head. "Never."

"Why do you keep resisting?"

Arthur huddled up into a ball and shut his eyes. Hecate smiled and shook her head. Still fighting it, huh? What do you know? Even her mother couldn't fully pull him over. The Englishman became passive, but still didn't want to pull back.

He did try to escape once.

This happened three days ago.

The nightcomers were not in the flat at the time. Arthur was left alone. The silence made him more nervous. Some of them could be hiding in the house. However, he didn't think about that. He wanted to go outside for a change. The urge overwhelmed his rational thought. He felt like he just had to do it. The Englishman pushed himself to his feet and dragged himself to the front door. He used his strength to unlock the bolted down and open it. Arthur collapsed outside.

The streetlights were so bright that they nearly blinded him. His body trembled at the hot summer night air. Was he smiling? He didn't know. The will to go outside pushed him further. He didn't care what state he was in. Arthur got up and started walking.

The night made him shiver despite being so hot. Arthur walked around with his hands in his pockets. Where was he going to go? The Englishman didn't think about that. He just kept walking. Arthur felt like a little kid in a new world. It didn't matter if there were eyes on him. He thought that he was smiling.

A sharp breeze brought him back to reality. Arthur looked around and found himself standing in a graveyard. He had no idea that he got here or when. His stomach turned. The Englishman whipped his head around.

"Who's there?" he asked. The man couldn't see anyone in the dark. Arthur's eyes shifted back and forth. Did they find them? That couldn't be right. They hadn't been in the flat since they left. They couldn't have known that he was out, could they?

"Hello?" Arthur asked again. He could hear footsteps. The Englishman shivered.

"Stay back!" he shouted.

"Arthur?" a familiar voice asked. "Is that you?" The Englishman tilted his head. He narrowed his eyes in the dark.

"Feliciano?" he asked. The Italian man walked into the street lights. At first, Arthur didn't move.

"Arthur, what are you doing out here?" Feliciano asked.

"Are you really Feliciano?" the Englishman asked, taking a step back. The Italian man looked so confused.

"What are you talking about?" he asked. "What's gotten into you? Are you feeling okay?" Feliciano walked towards him, but Arthur took a step back.

"What's wrong?" he asked. "Talk to me."

"Prove to me that you are Feliciano!" Arthur said.

"What?"

"Prove it to me right now. What was your first thought this morning?"

"I don't know! Why are you yelling at me?!"

Arthur took in a slow breath. "I'm sorry."

"What's gotten into you?" Feliciano asked. "Why haven't we seen you lately? You look awful. Are you sure you are okay?" The Englishman slowly shook his head. He looked down at his hand.

"I'm in trouble," he admitted. "Really bad trouble."

"What do you mean?" the Italian man asked. Arthur started looking away. Part of him hoped that Feliciano wouldn't pick up on what was going on. But, he also desperately hoped that the Italian man would hear his cries for help.

"What's the matter?" Feliciano asked. "Please, talk to me. I want to help you." The Englishman shook his head.

"I don't think you can help me," he muttered.

"What?" the Italian man asked.

"I'm sorry," Arthur said. He turned and walked away.

"Wait! Arthur! What's the matter?" Feliciano asked. The Englishman waved him off as he disappeared out of view. By the time he made it home, the flat was still empty.

So far, Allison and her daughters hadn't said anything about his little outing.

* * *

Hecate pulled him closer to him.

"I know what you did three days ago," she whispered. "You can't fool me." Arthur's eyes widened.

"We can't have you going around asking for help," she whispered. "You will ruin everything." Her nails dug into his chest.

"You have to give yourself over to us," she said. "I have a way to help you." Hecate smirked at the little gasp she heard. She let go of the Englishman and climbed out of bed. Arthur didn't move. He gave on wishing that this would end. He could only dread what would be coming next.

"Get up!" Hecate said. Arthur shrank back into a ball in bed. The nightcomer put her hands on her hips.

"I said get up," she said. She smacked him on the hip. Arthur yelped aloud.

"Get up," Hecate said again. "Don't make me repeat myself again. The Englishman reluctantly crawled out of bed. The nightcomer regained her composure.

"Good," she said. "Now follow me."

"C-C-Can't I get dres-?" Arthur asked.

"No!" Hecate hissed. "Come on already!" She grabbed him by the arm and dragged him out of his room. They ended outside to a small shed. Hecate stopped in front of the closed doors. Arthur stood on his toes and watched. Hecate turned to him with a little smile on her face. She had her hand to the hand.

"Welcome to the final trial," Hecate said. She unlocked the door and pushed it open. "You need to give yourself over to us." The nightcomer pushed him into the shed. Arthur was in a fog until he heard the door slam shut behind him. The Englishman turned around. The shed was pitch black. Arthur shivered as he looked around.

But then, he paused.

Arthur glanced behind him. Many yellow glowing eyes lit up in the dark. When he turned around, the Englishman noticed he wasn't alone.

"No…" he said. A rat jumped out and bit him on the arm. Arthur's howl filled the darkened shed. More rats jumped at his body. They didn't stop biting and scratching at his body. The Englishman didn't have anywhere to run. The door was bolted shut and he couldn't see anything, but the bodies of rats.

"Help! Help me! Let me out!" he screamed.

"Do you give yourself over to us?" Hecate asked outside.

"No!" Arthur snapped.

"Fine then," was all she said. The rats made their way to the man's face. Arthur could barely stand anymore. He struggled to grab onto anything. The biting and scratching grew deeper into his skin. He could feel his teeth down to his bones. Arthur sank down into a little ball.

"You win! Please let me out of here!" he cried. "I will give myself over to you! I can't take this!"

Satisfied outside, Hecate opened the door. Arthur lay on the ground huddled in a ball in the dark empty shed. She walked in and picked him up. The nightcomer had to walk the broken man back to the flat. Hecate smirked to herself the whole time.


	15. Uncle, Shion, and Gifts

Match Fifteen: Uncle, Shion, and Gifts:

-Ju-

Despite the joy of having a baby, there is still my uncle to deal with. It's been silent for the past couple of months. I do not like this. It's like when a child is quiet in the background. They are probably up to no good. The same goes for Jianjun. With Junjie in his corner, I don't want to know what they are plotting. I took the liberty of calling up Junjie's victims to see if they were okay. I've gotten to know them so well. They were all scared of what would help now that their attacker was out of jail. I have even Szu talk to them sometimes.

"Is it helping?" I asked her one day.

"Yeah, a little," she said. I put my arm around her shoulders.

"We will end this soon," I said. Szu looked up with a sad look in her eyes.

"When will that be?" she asked. I refused to be in despair. I pulled Szu closer to my chest.

"You hear me out," I said. "We will not give up. We have eyes and ears everywhere. I am calling and checking on all of you every day. You can't give up either. Got it?" She pressed her lips together and nodded.

"Good," I said. I know keeping my word will be hard for this, but god damn it I am trying. We all are.

I sat back in my chair and looked down at my belly. Must be easy for Little Bean. They just grow and sleep inside of me. They don't have worry about business meetings, chasing down rapists, and back-stabbing family members. Lucky. I looked on my phone. I'm due for another appointment soon. Other than trying to track down Jianjun and Junjie, everything is going fine. Yao doesn't seem to be off in a fog. He still won't exactly tell me what's wrong though. I don't know how to get him to talk without pushing too hard. I just want to help everyone.

"Don't put too much stress on yourself or you'll hurt the baby," Bik told me. Cai has been constantly blessing and saying incantation to keep the child alive.

"You shouldn't be doing this much work," she said. "You need to take a break."

"I wish that I can take a break," I said.

"Fei has his police friends looking for those creeps," Cai said. "The boys can run things until the baby's born." I almost feel bad for telling her that I can't. We all can't rest until the Jianjun and Junjie are stopped.

I didn't feel like doing paperwork today. I turned and looked out my window. Maybe I could go outside and just enjoy the day.

I paused because I'm not alone anymore.

"How long have you been there?" I asked. I looked out of the corner of my eye to see Shion standing in the corner.

"I'm surprised you saw me so quickly this time," she said. I turned to face her.

"What do you want now?" I asked.

"I'm just checking up on the child," the woman with fox mask said. I tilted my head.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"Does it matter?" Shion asked.

"Yes," I said. "I can't have some crazy woman looking after my baby for no reason, now can I?" Shion shrugged as she floated, yes floated, over to my desk. I looked down at her feet. Yep, they weren't touching the ground.

"You do have a point," Shion said. "I am a spirit from limbo. I look after unborn children."

"Uh-huh," I said. "Why?"

"Does there have to be an answer?" she asked.

"Yes," I said. Shion sighed and pushed back her hair from her forehead.

"Why do you humans always have to ask questions all the time?" she asked.

"Why are you so interested in my child?" I asked. I put my hands over my stomach. My brain went into attack mood.

"Calm down," Shion said. "I'm not here to hurt your child." Her words didn't sound so convincing.

"Hm…" was all I said. We didn't speak at first. I rubbed the sides of my forehead. "What do you want?"

"I am just checking on the child like I said," the floating woman answered. She lowered her feet to the floor.

"Hm," I said. I couldn't figure her out. She didn't take her gaze off of me.

"How has your…?" she began to ask.

"Stop right there!" I said, holding up my hand. Shion raised her eyebrow at me.

"No?" she asked.

"I do not want to know the gender yet," I said.

"You sure?" she asked.

"Yes," I said.

"Fine," Shion said. "I won't tell you what you're having."

"Thank you," I said. "Was there anything else you wanted?" She smiled and shook her head.

"No," Shion said. I blinked at her.

"No?" I asked.

"I would like some tea though," she said. I rolled my eyes.

"Fine," I said. I got up from my desk and headed into the kitchen.

* * *

I came back into my office with a cup of fresh tea.

"Here you are," I said. Shion gave her a kind smile.

"Thank you," she said. The woman took the cup and started drinking. I narrowed my eyes at her.

"Are you going to be doing this every time?" I asked.

"No, just every so often," Shion replied after taking a sip. "Just every once in a while."

"You're kidding, right?" I asked.

"No," she said. My face about dropped.

"Oh…" I muttered. Shion finished her tea and handed back the cup.

"The tea was good," she said. She vanished before my eyes. I just stood with a dumbfounded look on my face. I didn't know whether to scream and stand there with my mouth wide open. I still didn't know anything about her. What does she want with my child? Why me? Will I have to see her every day after this child is born?

I put my hand to my stomach. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to have Cai bless Little Bean again for the day. The paperwork can wait. I looked over at my desk before walking out of my office to head over to the Song House.

* * *

When I came home, I was greeted with some good news for a change. I found Yao and Hen-to waiting at the front door. Fei insisted that he walk me home.

"Oh, you're here," he said when he walked into his living room. "I was about to give you a call." I raised my eyebrow.

"What for?" I asked.

"Let me take you home. It's good news," Fei said. Cai and I looked at each other.

"Guys," I said when I made it back to my own living room. "What is this all about?" Yao and Hen-to grinned at me.

"We found them," Hen-to said. My jaw dropped.

"Are you serious?" I asked. "Where?"

"The Golden Monkey Motel," Yao said. I pulled out my phone and looked it up. I made a face when I saw the pictures. This motel looked like it had been burned and no one bothered to have it repaired. The sunlight did little to make it look better.

"Why would he stay here?" I asked. "Jianjun likes flashy things."

"He's also a cheapskate," Hen-to said. "He leeches off of other people."

"Oh yeah…" I said. I hated to know who he was sponging off this time. Junjie had no money. Zhong saw to that himself.

"Okay, this is good," I said. "What's our next plan of action?"

"We will keep watching them," Hen-to said. "My cop friends know some of the staff there very well." I looked up at him. He held up his hand before I could speak.

"We'll leave it at that," Hen-to said.

"Okay…" I said. "Well, good job everyone. We'll finally bring these headaches to an end. I hope." Fei put his hand on my shoulder.

"We will," he said. "We're closing in on him already." I smiled and nodded. Finally, some good news for a change. Despite that creepy woman popping up at random and Yao's strange behavior, everything was going fine.


	16. Greed Monster

Match Sixteen: Greed Monster:

She, they, it does not like greedy people. They will hunt them down. Days, weeks, even months. Once it has you in its sights, it will not stop until you are in ruins. Or worse. Just like right now.

Jianjun had the following of somebody following him. He lit up a cigarette at the bar. The con man's eyes moved back and forth.

"Excuse me, sir," a man said. "You can't smoke in here." Jianjun sneered at him.

"Mind your damn business," he muttered. The con man snorted and took a smoke. This was not how he wanted it to go. Junjie was a just a spoiled brat who complained all of the time.

"I'm hungry."

"Why is it so cold in here?"

"How long are we staying in this place?"

"Why is everything so dirty?"

"I'm bored!"

"When do we get out of here?"

Jianjun threw back his head and groaned. If he had to hear that spoiled brat complain one more time…

The con man looked up and noticed three men staring at him. "What?!" The men pretended to be doing something else. Jianjun sighed over his drink. What was going on with him? Usually, he knew how to pick his partners. The disgraced heir seemed like the perfect tool for his plan to seize power in the clan. While planning, he started to see the problems.

Jianjun froze with his cigarette clenched in his teeth. Did someone follow him here? If so, who? The police? That couldn't be. He and Junjie had kept a low profile so far. That was one of the hardest parts to talk to the disgraced heir about.

"I want to go out to this party tonight," Junjie said one evening in the motel.

"No!" the con man said. The spoiled disgraced heir frowned.

"But why not?" he complained. He looked like a little child with his arms folded across his chest.

"Don't you get it?" Jianjun asked. "We're staying low key. We can't draw too much attention to ourselves. No parties. No run-ins with the police. Just stay in the motel room."

"No drugs?" he asked.

"No!" the con man shouted. "No drugs or women! Do you understand?"

"But…?"

"Do you understand me?"

Junjie frowned and flopped back onto the bed. "Fine."

"Good," Jianjun said. He still had his doubts.

* * *

Jianjun looked out of the corner of his eye again. There is was again.  _Where are you?_  So far, the bar looked the same as it did five minutes ago. The con man couldn't relax his guard. Something or someone was following. He wouldn't be surprised if they came up behind him right now.

Tap-tap.

"Yes?" Jianjun asked, turning around. A huge man with muscles stood glaring at him. The con man smiled and saluted him.

"Yo!" he said.

"You can't smoke in here," the big man said. Jianjun looked down at his cigarette.

"Oh," he said. "Look, buddy. I've had a long day. I just forgot." The con man held his cigarette the whole time.

"Put it out!" the big man shouted.

"Okay, okay," Jianjun said. "Geez." The con man snubbed out his cigarette. "Happy?" But then, he paused.

She stood at the back of the bar. She didn't say anything. Her deep brown eyes stayed fixed upon him, or at least he thought it was him. For some reason, nothing about her seemed human. Jianjun turned up his nose.

"Can you get that spooky bitch to stop staring at me?" he asked. The big man turned his head.

"What are you talking about?" he asked. "I don't see anyone."

"She's right there!" Jianjun said, pointing to the back wall. "She's standing there, glaring at me. It's creeping me out." The big man glared at him.

"Are you making fun of me?!" he snapped.

"No!" the con man said. "That woman keeps staring at me! Get her to stop!" The entire time she didn't speak. She only stared at the con man. The big man grabbed Jianjun by his dark blue blazer.

"I think it's time for you to leave!" he snapped. The con man pushed him off.

"Alright," he said. Jianjun paid his tab and left the tab.

* * *

The con man stuffed his hands into his pockets as he walked down the street. Eight nights in a row. Who the hell was following him around intently? Jianjun looked over his shoulder. There was nobody there—again. The con man gritted his teeth.

"I'm sick of this!" he yelled. Jianjun fully turned around.

"Don't fuck around with me!" he shouted. "I don't like this stupid game you're playing! I don't know what you are playing at! Either come out and show yourself or fuck off!" Silence in the uncharacteristically empty street. He folded his arms across his chest and frowned.

"Do you think I'm playing around here?" Jianjun asked. He jumped when he heard the giggling of a young girl in the air. The con man drew out his knife and looked around.

"Come out mother fucker!" he shouted. "I'm warning you! Don't fuck with me! I will kill you if I have to!" Then came that whisper in his ear again.

"Your greed will be your downfall."

That was all it took. Jianjun didn't stop running with his knife out until he made it back to the motel. He used his keycard to unlock the room. Junjie looked up from the bed.

"What's the matter, old man?" he asked. Jianjun stood at the door, panting.

"She's following me again," he managed to say. The disgraced heir gave him a strange look.

"What are you talking about?" he asked. "Who's following you?" The con man walked by with the knife in his hand.

"Old man?" Junjie asked. The bathroom door slammed shut.

She, they, it does not like greedy people. They will hunt them down. Days, weeks, even months. Once it has you in its sights, it will not stop until you are in ruins. Or worse. Jianjun better watch his back.

She's got plans for him.


	17. Rusałka

Match Seventeen: Rusałka:

Feliks played with his empty gun in the dark. He may have been goofy, but he wasn't stupid to keep it loaded while playing around with it. The Polish man kept the bullets locked in the top drawer of his desk. As he played with his gun, an odd memory came into his head.

This was during the war. Poland had just been taken over by Germany at the time. Feliks didn't know what happened. He used to be so strong. The boy had to be. Europe was a savage place at the time. It was either fight back or submit to the stronger party. That being said, Feliks grew soft over the years. He didn't even see Germany's invasion coming. Uncertain of what to do during one October evening, Feliks wandered into the woods.

That's when he saw her.

Feliks picked up the phone back in present day.

"Hello?" Toris asked on the other line.

"Toris, buddy!" Feliks said. There was a pause.

"Feliks? What do you want?" Toris asked. His voice trembled as he spoke.

"Calm down, friend," the Polish man said. "Why are you so upset? I just have a question."

"What?" the Lithuanian man asked.

"Do you remember a woman with long white hair who live in the woods?" Feliks asked.

"Huh?" Toris asked back.

The Polish man looked up at the ceiling. "I remembered when I was in high school during WWII. I was wandering around the woods when I heard singing."

"Singing?"

"Yeah." Feliks rubbed his forehead. "I can't exactly remember the song. She sounded like she was crying at one point."

"I'm not following…"

"Anyway, I followed the singing deep into a clearing in the woods. I pushed past the brush and saw a woman with long white hair. She had her back to me. Beautiful girl. Only her nails seemed to touch the ground."

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

"I don't know. It's all kind of hazy to me."

"Why are you telling this?"

Feliks sighed. "I don't really know. It just all came to me. You really don't remember such a woman?"

"No…" Toris said.

"Okay, bye," the Polish man said. He hung up before the Lithuanian man could say a word. Feliks set his phone down on the desk.  _Am I going crazy?_

He wasn't.

* * *

There were the stories.

The creature itself went by many names. Vampire of the Forest. Rusałka. White Devil of the Forest. Frozen witch. Hag of the Bog. Siren of the Mist. Just to name a few. Not many have seen her face. They've heard her singing. She's only been seen around wartimes. But what is she really? Is she a dark omen? Maybe a lost soul haunting the forest where she is seen? There are many guesses, but no answers to accompany them.

* * *

Toris couldn't stop thinking about that phone call with Feliks last night. The Lithuanian man had heard the stories himself. Initially, he chalked it up to bed time stories used to scare children into behaving. Now, Toris was not so sure.

There was that one encounter buried in the back of his mind however.

He was about sixteen at the time. This was during another war. He and Feliks fought on the same side. He couldn't remember which battle. It had been days. Food, water, and ammunition were running low. The young men split up to cover more ground. Feliks took the east while Toris took the west. It was early winter at the time. Snow hadn't fallen on the ground yet. Cold winds were still blowing though. Toris pulled his jacket closer to his slender body. All he had going for him was the path of trees ahead.

By sundown, his light started going dim. Toris needed to get back to the camp. But, he didn't know the way. The trees started to look the same. The young Lithuanian man looked up at the sky. The sun was setting on the path that he was taking. He narrowed his eyes. It would be best to find some stable shelter to stay in overnight. Toris frowned and looked at his surroundings. Trees, trees, trees, and more trees. The young soldier frowned.

"This is not good," he said to himself. Toris jumped when he heard crows flying overhead. The soldier shivered. The temperature was dropping fast already.

That's when he heard the singing.

Toris looked around in the dimly skies. He couldn't tell which direction the singing was coming from.

"Hello?" he asked. The singing continued without a break. Toris' eyes shifted left and right. He slowed down his pace. The cold didn't affect him as much. The singing sounded too far away for him to far. Toris shivered as he noticed that his surrendering grew darker. He could see his breath now. It felt like he was walking down hill really fast. Toris breathed heavily. All he could hear was the singing around his head.

The singing itself sounded unsettling in a way. The voice didn't sound human. Toris' stomach turned. But, he couldn't turn away. Before he knew it, the young soldier came into a small clearing. By this time, the forest became pitch black. Toris couldn't see his hand in front of his face. But he saw hair in the darkness.

Her long white hair seemed to be floating around her as she sang. She had her back to him. Toris could see through her seemingly floating robes. The young soldier waved his hand at her.

"Hello?" he asked. She didn't stop singing or turn around.

"What are you doing all the way out here?" Tori asked. Her singing seemed to rise with the thin air around her.

"Are you lost?" he asked. Suddenly, the singing stopped. She still had he back to him. Toris stood on his tiptoes for a long.

"Miss?" he asked. The woman slowly turned her head. The color drained from his face. Her eyes were black pits. Her skin looked paler than the moon hidden from the trees. Her nails almost turned the ground, but her feet didn't. Toris shivered as he took steps backwards.

"Hello?" he asked. The woman opened her mouth wide as she hissed. Toris only saw flash of the metal spikes, not teeth, cover in blood before he turned around and ran. The young soldier didn't know how long or how far he had been running through the series of dead trees.

"Toris?" he heard someone ask as someone grabbed him from the shoulders. The young soldier looked up to see Feliks staring at him with a puzzled look on his face. He blinked as he trembled.

"Feliks?" Toris asked.

"What's the matter with you?" the Polish man asked. "You look like you've seen a ghost." Toris collapsed in his arms, trembling.

"Toris? Toris? Toris?" Feliks asked as he shook his comrade as hard as he could. He had to drag his Lithuanian friend back to the camp with him.

Toris was only one of the few to actually see her face.

* * *

Eduard and Raivis were too young to remember the creature in the woods, but they have heard the stories. Ivan remembers her and he too has seen her.

This too took place during the war. Ivan was having a bad time with General Winter during this particular battle. He was supposed to be scouting the area that night. The snow started to fall on the ground. He needed to get back to camp before nightfall. Ivan heard there was a shortcut through the woods. He thought that he would cross through and make it back to the camp. The Russian man kept his gun strapped to his back.

Ivan could hear that damn singing in the trees. It's been three nights now. The soldiers in the camp didn't know where it was coming from. Many theories flew around the tents. Some thought it was ghosts. Maybe it was a cult? Ivan didn't pay it too much attention. He just dreaded the winter coming towards them.

He stopped in his tracks when he heard the singing getting louder. Before he knew it, Ivan was trailing the sounds in the diming light. The Russian man had no idea why he was going this way. The singing seemed to be floating around him. Ivan trailed the sounds with his eyes.

"Hello?" he asked. The singing didn't break. Ivan narrowed his eyes.

"Is anybody here?" he asked. No response, but more singing. The Russian man tried not to let the annoyance get to him. Before he knew, Ivan found his way to the clearing in the darkness. There she was. She floated off of the ground as she sang. Her nails touched the dusting of the snow. Ivan took out his gun.

"Turn around and show yourself!" he shouted. The singing didn't stop.

"This is not a game," Ivan said, walking closer to the singing creature. "Turn around or I will shoot you!" Suddenly, the singing stopped. The Russian man raised his eyebrow. What he saw next still haunted him to this day.

Those same eyes stared him down. So black, so empty. Her nails dragged along the ground. When she opened her mouth, she showed off the bloody spikes in her mouth. Ivan doesn't remember everything that happened next. When he woke up, the Russian man was back in the camp. He couldn't answer the questions being asked to him about what happened last night.

Why bring all of this up? It could be possible to see that creature again. Eastern Europe hopes not. They aren't so sure about that anymore…


	18. Nibung

Match Eighteen: Nibung:

Alfred sat on his bed replaying the images in his head. It didn't make sense to him. He had gotten used to the visions of the high school boy starving himself and looking each step closer to death. But who was the girl trying to help him?

He couldn't see the boy's face.

Alfred looked up when his phone rang.

"Hello?" he asked.

"Alfred?" a small voice asked on the phone. His heart jumped in his chest.

"Florence?" he asked. "Florence, what's the matter?"

"Nothing's wrong," she said. "I just missed you." The American man looked just as confused.

"What for?" he asked.

"I'm just really lonely," she said. Alfred narrowed his eyes. Something about those words triggered something familiar in his brain. Where had he heard them before? Was it the girl from his visions?

"Uh… sure," Alfred said. "I'll be right over. Where's Lydia?"

"She's went out shopping," Florence said. "She went into the city today."

"I see," he said. He looked out his front window. "You know what? It's a nice day today. Why don't we just sit outside on the porch and enjoy it?"

"Okay," Florence said.

"Great! I'll be over shortly," Alfred said. He couldn't believe this was happening. Why was she calling him over? Usually, he pops up over at their house. Plus, Lydia wasn't home either. The American man didn't know what to make of it. He didn't dwell on it too much either. Alfred was right out the door after hanging up the phone.

* * *

Florence sat on the porch, waiting. The sun caressed her pale skin. She looked half-asleep. Nature around her acted like a lullaby.

"Florence! Florence!" someone shouted. The tree spirit slowly opened her eyes. Alfred stood in front of her, smiling.

"Yo," he said.

"Oh, hi," she said.

"How have you been?" Alfred asked.

"A little tired," Florence said. The American man walked up to the porch and sat down on the bench next to her.

"Actually, I have to ask you something," he said.

"What is it?" Florence asked.

"Have you had weird visions before?" he asked.

"What do you mean?" she asked. Alfred tried to picture how he put his next thought into words without sounding confusing. Florence looked smart enough to understand.

"It's kind of hard to explain," he began. "I keep seeing myself in a high school in the 90's or something. Only… it feels real. Do you know what I mean?"

"I think so," she said. "Why would you be seeing something like that?"

"I don't know. That's not even the crazy part."

"Oh?"

The American man shifted into place. "I keep seeing this teenage boy in this high school. He's looks so sullen and skinny." He felt always his own ribs.

"I could see his ribcage," Alfred said. "It creeps me out to see it in my head. That's not even the weirdest thing." He looked in the eye.

"This boy had my face," the American man said. Florence tilted her head.

"Do you think it's a past life?" she asked.

"What?" Alfred asked. Florence put her hand on his.

"You might be seeing visions of a past life," she explained. He gave her a strange look.

"But I don't believe in that sort of thing," the American man said.

"It doesn't matter," she said.

"What?" he asked.

"Even if you don't believe in anything, you will start to see visions," the tree spirit said. "Sometimes, the supernatural are drawn to the non-believers."

"Why is that?" Alfred asked.

"Who knows?" Florence asked. The way she talked reminded him of that girl in his visions. Even that smile looked like her. Alfred's eyes traced every feature on her face.  _Should I say something?_

"Hey Florence," he spoke up.

"What?" she asked. Alfred shifted his shoulders up and down as he tried to put his words together.

"I think I might have seen you in this past life," he said.

"Me?" she asked.

"It's going to sound crazy, but you might have been that boy's friend at one point," Alfred said. "You were always there for him. But…"

"But?" Florence asked. The rest of words were stuck in America's mouth. Where was he going with this? Even this didn't make any sense in his head. The American man didn't know how to stop either. He words just plowed out without a single clear thought.

"I might have hurt you in a past life," he said. "I don't remember how. But before he died, you were crying." Alfred could see her face again. She lady underneath him, naked and crying. The boy in his visions didn't mean to hurt her. She didn't deserve to be dragged down because of his suffering. Alfred grabbed her by the hands.

"Can you ever forgive him or me for hurting you like that?" he asked. It just sounded so weird to say this to Florence. What if she wasn't the girl in the visions at all? But if she was, could it be the reason that he was attracted to her in the first place?

Florence took hold of his hands.

"Yes, I forgive you," she said. Alfred's heart did little flips in his chest. Without much thought, he rushed forward and kissed him on the lips. This just happened. This just happened and he didn't want to stop it. This time, Florence kissed back.

Little did they know that they would adding more to the downfall of the world in the waste land.


	19. Siren

Match Nineteen: Siren:

Ivan tried to keep his mind preoccupied with work. Since Kitano-sensei wouldn't give up his precious tadpoles, Vozrozhdeniye would have to counter his work with their own. Granted, they would still be paying for the Tadpole Project. After all, Kitano-sensei has made good on his word. And the project was quite successful in his hands. But, the good old therapist was so stingy with the fruits of  _their_ , yes  _their_ , labor. He's left them no choice than to counter back. It was all Ivan's idea, really. He just suggested it to shut them up about not getting their hands on the tadpoles. Of course they would take him seriously. Ivan really doesn't care about this game. But, his boss pushes him through it anyway.

Now, he has to help out.

First came the formulas. Karp, Kenya, and Nikita took the start. Amaterasu's make up was rather complex. Even Kitano-sensei didn't get it right on his own. No, it took Asato-sensei to step in and correct it. She was the master at chemistry. Thanks to her, the Tadpole Project took off. Yes, they read all about her drug Mnemosyne. It's been her child since college. They didn't need to be Etsuko, but they had to be damn close.

Ivan monitored their process daily. It was like watching a puzzle come to life. Add chemicals here, take some out, switch pieces around, all just to clean it up. The big Russian watched the whole time. Something about this process triggered something in his brain.

-Moscow, 1950's-

How many days has it been? He just sat in a daze in his room. He doesn't even remember why he came here. The gray coloring was the only proof of life around him. The voices refused to go quiet.

_They're going to kill you. They're going to kill us. Run. Run. Run!_

Then, the door opened. She's back again. What's she planning to do this time?

-Present Day-

"Ivan! Ivan! Ivan!" someone yelled. The big Russian man looked up. Karp had his eyes on him.

"What do you think?" he asked. The man with the short dark hair held up the piece of paper. Ivan looked at the scribble patterns on the paper.

"I can't read that," Ivan said. "What is it?" The shorter man frowned.

"It's the formula," Karp said. Ivan didn't react at first.

"Oh," he said. "Can you pull it back? I can't see it."

"Ah, sorry about that," the shorter man said. He pulled the paper back. Ivan stared at the paper.

"That's it?" he asked.

"No, it's only the beginning," Karp said. The tall Russian man raised his eyebrow.

* * *

First came the planning. This worked out Ivan's favor. It gave him time to think. England looked so broken. Mam must have gotten to him. Japan was also succumbing to the Woman in Red. Only Ivan had himself still in tact.

Meanwhile, the members of Vozrozhdeniye happily plotted how they were going to make their godlike being to counter the tadpoles. They had to be equal if not stronger. Alisa pulled out her list of all the tadpole traits.

"This is everything the tadpoles as of 2015," she said. The rest of the group crowded around for a look.

"Everything looks so detailed," Nikita said.

"I couldn't get all of their drugs used," Alisa said. "But I got a rough idea of what the tadpoles are like."

"Excellent," Karp said. His wife watched from the corner with a curious look in her eyes.

"So, where shall we begin?" Kenya asked.

"The base drug," Ivan said.

"Of course," Karp said. "I can work on that if anyone else is willing to work with me."

"I'll do it," Kenya said.

"Me too," Nikita said. "I don't have anything better to do anyway." As they talked, Ivan's mind got lost in those weird flashbacks again. He asked his boss what was going on. Putin was rather vague about it.

"Past life," was all he said.

"What?" Ivan asked.

"Don't worry about it," Putin said. The taller Russian man didn't know what to make of this. He always knew that his boss was hiding things from him. That was no surprise. However, this left Ivan unsettled.

"Ivan!" someone yelled back in present day. The Russian man looked up. The members of Vozrozhdeniye had his eyes on him. Ivan cleared his throat.

"Yes?" he asked.

"Are you feeling okay?" Karp asked.

"Yes," Ivan lied. "I'm just a little tired."

"Anyway," Boris said. "We need a test subject."

"How many?" Ivan asked. The other members look at each other for a moment. They whispered for a few minutes.

"I think we should get five or six," Alisa asked. Ivan didn't blink.

"And you want me to go get them?" he asked.

"Could you?" Nikita asked. Ivan sat back with his arms across his chest.

"I'll see what I can do," he said.

* * *

Now, Ivan had to look for the test subjects. Tandeki used mental patients. How convenient for them. No one would believe a bunch of mental patients if they claimed abuse from their caretakers. Though, there were some shady ways that Tandeki obtained the mental patients. Ivan didn't think about that. Moscow had plenty of test subjects to claim from the streets of Moscow.

He started his drive around late at night. The Russian man went to the worst parts of the city. Plenty of homeless people were out tonight. Ivan struggled to keep his mind focused. Something about this darkness took him back to that past.

-Moscow 1950's-

He had been out here too. Even then, the voices were with him. There was no family in the picture. He didn't have a place to live. The night they committed him, he was dirty and didn't have anything to eat. His hands were covered in blood. There was someone yelling at him. He couldn't tell how many there were.

"Get your hands up!" one person yelled. He slowly turned around. All he could see was the bright lights down the road.

"Don't move!" the person, presumably a man, shouted. "Get your hands where I can see them!" The rest of this event came in a blur.

-Present Day-

Ivan slammed on the breaks when he saw a figure in the road. He rolled down his window and looked out. She had to be about nineteen or twenty years old. The Russian man couldn't get a good look at her in his headlights.

"What the hell?!" she screamed.

"My apologies," Ivan said. The woman shivered as she grabbed her right arm.

"Are you trying to kill me?!" she shouted. She started taking slow steps backwards. This woman looked so thin. Her dirty clothes hung off of her body. Ivan figured out the right way to lure her into the car.

"Are you hungry?" he asked. The woman raised her eyebrows.

"Why?" she asked.

"You look like you could use some food and a warm bed tonight," Ivan said. "Better than spending another night out here, da?" The woman took another step back as she looked down at her arm. Her grumbling stomach did all of the talking.

"Come on," the Russian man said. "Just get in the car already." The woman didn't move until started biting on her hand. Ivan stared at her as he waited. She finally dropped her shoulders and walked towards the car. The Russian man unlocked the car and opened the passenger door. The woman climbed into the car. Ivan managed to get a better look at his potential guinea pig. He had bruises all over her thighs. She wasn't wearing any shoes. Ivan tried to ignore the track marks on her arms.

"You made the right decision," was all that he would say. Ivan backed up and put the car in drive. The woman didn't say anything as they drove away.


	20. Wild Hunt

Match Twenty: Wild Hunt:

Gilbert went to a psychic he encountered long ago in the woods. He doesn't believe in this sort of thing. But, Ludwig still wasn't waking up. It had been five weeks in the hospital, but nothing could bring him out of his coma. Doctors were stumped and suggested taking him off of life support.

"No," Gilbert said.

"Sir, he shows no signs of recovery. At this rate, he will be dead within a month. Is he an organ donor?" the doctor asked. Gilbert resisted the urge to choke out the doctor.

"He will come back from this," he said. "I will find a way!" The Prussian man turned and walked out of the hospital.

And now, here he was.

Gilbert raised his hand to knock on the door.

"Enter," an old woman's voice croaked. Gilbert about jumped. She was still as sharp as ever. He pushed open the door and walked into the small wooded hut. Inside was dark.

"Hello?" he asked.

"I'm back here," the old woman said. Gilbert made his way down the narrow hall. He tried to ignore the buzzing mosquitoes around his head. He should be used to the smell of the swamp by now. The man still covered his nose and kept walking. Gilbert approached a thin black plastic curtain. A shadowy figure sat on a chair made of wood.

"Come in," she said. Gilbert pushed back the curtain and went inside. The smell of swap mixed in with the smell of smoke. A pair of glowing eyes stared through the darkness.

"Welcome Gilbert," she said. "Come in, take a seat." Gilbert opened his mouth.

"Take a seat," the old woman said again. The Prussian man closed his mouth and sat down.

"Very good," she said. "Have some tea. Do not argue. You need to have something to drink to clear your thoughts. Have the tea first and then we'll talk." Gilbert lowered his eyes.

"Fine," he said. The old woman turned off her boiling kettle and poured the water into the cup. The water turned light green from the tea bag. Gilbert shifted into place.

"Shhh," the old woman said. "We will talk after you drink." The Prussian man finally sat still. The birds outside did little to calm him down.

"This tea takes about ten minutes to brew, you know?" the old woman said. Gilbert pressed his lips together. The psychic lowered her eyes in the candlelight.

"Things are getting crazier," she said in a low voice. Gilbert lifted his head. The old woman in the dark had her eyes on him.

"Your brother has fallen victim to it already," she said. The Prussian man looked down at his hands.

"It's not just him," she said. "The entire world is going to be swallowed up into darkness." Her large crow on the wooden chair pecked at the bark. This bird has always been quiet. Part of Gilbert wondered if that was a real bird.

"Yes," the old woman said. "This is just a normal bird. He just doesn't make too many noises." Gilbert frowned.

"Could you stop doing that?" he asked.

"My apologies," she said. Gilbert rolled his eyes. The old woman pulled out a small pitcher of milk and poured it into his cup.

"Thank you," the Prussian man said. The old woman took out the bag and handed him his cup.

"Thank you," he said again. Gilbert took a sip of the bitter tea. He winced at the taste.

"You've come to find a way to get your brother back," the old woman spoke up. "He's trapped by an angry spirit from his past."

"What do you mean?" Gilbert asked. "Who?"

"There is a woman named Lydia Harel."

The Prussian man shook his head. "I don't know anyone by that name."

"Of course you don't," she said. "She's not from this life."

"What are you talking about?"

"Past lives."

Gilbert's eyes grew wide as he struggled to say something but ended up sitting back with the color drained from his face. The old woman put down her cup.

"Your brother has wronged this woman and she wants revenge," she said.

"So how do we break it?" Gilbert asked.

"Take me to the hospital," she said. "I want to see him for myself. There is still some time to get him back. But, I have to act fast." Gilbert's hopes started to raise in his head and chest.

"Okay," the Prussian man said. "How much should I pay?" He reached into his bag and pulled out his wallet. The psychic looked him in the eye.

"Don't," she said.

"But…" he said. Gilbert already had his money in his hand. The old woman shook her head.

"I don't want your money," she said. "You know I will never take it."

"Alright," Gilbert said, rather reluctant. He watched as the old woman stood up and walked past him.

"Wait! I'm coming too!" the Prussian man shouted. He jumped and followed behind the old psychic.

* * *

-Roderich-

Roderich was being haunted by visions of the past too.

This morning, he was playing his piano like he normally did. His head got lost into the music. Such a beautiful sound. He could go on playing this forever.

But then, Roderich paused when he heard a gun shot. The Austrian man froze. Roderich opened his eyes and looked down. Blood covered the piano keys. The world turned black.

Roderich shivered. This has been going on for eight weeks now. The same visions played on a loop in his head. It about scared him away from the piano. Roderich drew back his hands.

"Roderich, what's the matter?" Elizabeta asked. Her boyfriend turned his head.

"I don't feel so good," he said. Roderich stood up and walked past her to their room.

"Roderich?" Elizabeta asked. The door closed behind him.

* * *

Roderich lay on his side. Blood on the keys and the gun shot weren't the only things haunting him. His mind began to see things from the 1880's.

-1881-

No one understood his genius. He locked himself in his home day-in and day-out. This symphony had to be perfect. How could he top his ninth symphony? Before that, his music was never publicly known. This man had loved music since he was a child. Or rather, he was forced to love music by his father.

Abuse, perfection, drinking, and isolation started to take their toll on the man. The voices in his head mocked him.

_You are a failure._

_You will never live up to your grandfather's name!_

_You will be just like just failure of a father!_

It was true about his father. Alcohol was his father only true friend. He only cared about music and drinking. When his temper wasn't aimed at his wife, it was aimed at their only son. Remembering his father's rages made the man break down laughing.

Empty bottles scattered all over the floor. His star was dying. No one had any interest in him anymore. The man could hear his angry voice of disapproval. He sat down at his piano with the idea for the perfect tenth symphony.

This would play out in the middle of December in 1887. He would be alone in the early hours out the morning. Everything was set up.

His body wouldn't be found until a month later.

* * *

-Present Day-

Roderich's stomach turned.  _So that's what I was in the past, was it?_  A strong sense of dread began to choke him up. Another thought crossed his mind.

"What if we are doomed to repeat how we died in the past?" he asked in a whisper. Roderich clutched the pillow underneath his head as he trembled.

* * *

-Elizabeta-

The visions started to come to her too.

Last night, she was shopping for dinner in the local twenty-hour grocery store. There weren't that many around at the time. Elizabeta seemed to have the whole place to herself.

But, she had the feeling of being watch.

She turned her head from the meat section. Nobody was in sight. Elizabeta had a knife hidden under her jacket. She pushed her cart along as she kept her eyes open.

This wasn't the first time either. Antonio gave her a warning about this three weeks ago.

"The veil between the living and the dead is getting thinner," he said. "Do not pay any attention to them. You will feed them, they will get stronger." Elizabeta picked up a pack of beef and inspected it. She smiled when it met her satisfaction. After grabbing a second, she moved onto the chicken. Once she got her meat, Elizabeta looked at her list.

"Let's see," she said. "I already have the broth at home. I just need carrot, potatoes, onions, chills, garlic, and pepper." Simple little tasks, right? Elizabeta turned the cart around and headed to the vegetable section. She froze when she heard footsteps running behind her. The Hungarian turned to see nobody. Her eyes shifted to her right.

"You will not get me," she whispered. Elizabeta looked through the vegetable section with sharp eyes. Earlier in the day, she kept hearing the laughter of children in the kitchen. Usually, Elizabeta would think that she was hearing things. But Antonio's words told her otherwise.

She took one look behind her. Nobody in sight. Elizabeta reached for her knife and held her breath.  _I can't stall around here anymore. Just get the vegetables and spices and get out_. She took a quick look at each vegetable before putting them in her cart. So far, so good.

But then came the spice section.

Elizabeta was looking through the garlic when she heard the giggling again. To her ears, it sounded like a little child. This time, the Hungarian woman forced herself not to look up.  _I do not hear you. You will not get me._

Her hand reached for two bottles of garlic. The only thing left was the salt. Elizabeta tilted her head at the different kinds on the shelf before her.

"When did we get all of these types of salts?" she asked herself. Elizabeta looked through each other with her hand in front of her. Footsteps echoed behind her. She would've ignored it if a pair of small hands hadn't pushed her right into the salt. Elizabeta screamed as she tried to maintain her balance.

"Whoa!" she shouted. She went down face first into the salt. Glass and salt hit the floor. One of the janitors ran over when he heard the sound.

"Who did that?!" Elizabeta shouted. When she looked around, there was no one else in sight by the janitor at the end of the aisle.

"Are you okay, miss?" he asked. "Are you hurt anywhere?"

"No…" the Hungarian woman said.

"What happened to you?" the janitor asked. Elizabeta slowly shook her head.

"I don't know," she said. "It felt like something pushed me. I'm so sorry for the mess."

"It's okay," the janitor said. "Just as long as you are not hurt." Elizabeta jumped to her feet, grabbed three bottles of unbroken salt, and made her way over to the cart. The rest of the shopping trip went on without incident. Elizabeta tried to pay for the salt bottles that she broke.

"It's okay," the clerk said.

"Are you sure?" Elizabeta asked with an eyebrow raised.

"Yes, ma'am," the clerk said. "We'll take it from here."

"Okay…" the Hungarian woman said with unease. She handed the man her money and he gave her back her change. Even out of the grocery store, Elizabeta couldn't let down her guard. The drive home put her on high alert. She still couldn't shake the feeling that she was being watched in the car. The whole drive home made her feel the most uncomfortable that she had felt in years. She didn't stop moving once she parked in the driveway. Elizabeta ran into the house and locked the door behind her.

Once she got inside, she finally broke down sobbing.

* * *

-Ludwig and Lydia-

Lydia Harel was about to go in for the next action when she froze. The ghost turned her head.

"What goes there?" she asked in Yiddish.


	21. Loved, Girls' Day Out, and Rice

Match Twenty-One: Loved, Girls' Day Out, and Rice:

-Ju-

I am constantly showered with love. The girls are always looking out for me. Mei and Szu call me every morning and night.

"How are you doing?" they would ask me.

"Good," I said. Aside the strange visions I have been having and Yao's odd behavior, everything has been going great. Mei keeps trying to guess what I'm going to have.

"I don't know yet," I tell her. She pouted at me this morning.

"Aww, that's not fun!" Mei complained. "Don't you have a little guess?"

"No," I said. She hung onto my arm.

"Not one guess?" she asked.

"No," I said. "What do you think I'll have?" Mei took a moment to think about.

"I don't know," she said. "What do you want to have?"

"A boy," I said. Mei looked up at me.

"Why do you say that?" she asked.

"Are you familiar with my family history?"

"Which part?"

"The baby one."

"No…"

I sat back on my couch. "Apparently every time a girl is born in my family, the man loses his fertility for some reason." I looked out the window. "It happened to my father. He tried to have a son with a long-time friend of his, but it didn't work. They couldn't figure out why she couldn't get pregnant. His sperm count was too low at the time."

"I remember hearing about that," Mei said.

"The same thing happened to my grandfather on my mother's side. Basically it's on my mother's side."

"But what about Jianjun?"

"You forgot my mom was born too."

"Oh yeah."

"To prevent it from happening to me, my father buried my umbilical chord in the backyard. He had a shaman to pray over it." I turned back to Mei.

"I was never allowed to go around that area," I said. "That's why father had it fenced off with wire and wood."

"Heh," Mei said. Szu and her family have been showering me in baby gifts. I think I'm running out of room in my house.

"Look, look," Hark said. She held up a doll house in a box. I made a strange face at the pink and white on the cover.

"Uh… Okay… Thanks, I guess," I said.

"Isn't it cute?" Hark asked. "Your baby is going to enjoy this." Szu rolled her eyes as she texted her friends on phone.

"Right…" I said. We looked up when the door opened. Lili stood in my doorway with a huge grin on his face.

"Hello, ladies," he said. I noticed the multiple boxes of toys in his arms.

"What is all of that?" I asked.

"Toys for the baby," Lili said. "Take a look at this." He set all the toys on the floor and picked up one box. I saw a plane on the front cover. Lili flashed a huge grin.

"The child will have so much fun with this plane," he said. He started to make fighter plane noises as he flew it around. Szu rolled her eyes as Hark and I looked at each other with confused looks on our faces. Lili put down that box and picked up another one. This one had a boat on the front.

"How about this one?" he asked. "Hours of delight with this little boat. I can see it now. Fun nights in the bathtub."

"Honey, you got toys for a boy," Hark spoke up.

"Of course," Lili said. "Little Bean's going to be a little boy."

"No, Little Bean's going to be a girl," his wife said.

"No, a boy."

"Girl."

"Boy."

"Girl!"

"Boy!"

"Girl!"

I put my hands over my ears. Here they go again. They aren't the only ones either. Hen-to and Bik along keep arguing about what I will have. Same with Fei and Cai. And Wan and Chi Ju. Even Tse and Man are getting into it now. I rose to my feet.

"I'm going to go for a walk," I lied. "Excuse me." I bowed and walked out of my living room. I heard footsteps hurrying behind me.

"Szu?" Hark asked. I turned my head. Szu ran to catch up with me.

"Hey, what's on your mind?" I asked.

"Don't mind them," she said. "They are just really excited for you."

"Yeah," I said. "I just wish they would tone it down a bit. They are starting to stress me out." Szu patted me on the back.

"I don't think that's going to happen," she said. I groaned and dropped my head.

* * *

There are some upbeat moments to my situation. Today is an all-girls day. We're just having a simple lunch out and maybe catch a movie. Even Xin, Tina, and Qun are coming along with us. Tina and Mei hung around with me. It's probably for the best. Years later and they are still fighting with each other.

"You still don't know what you are having?" Tina asked.

"No," I said. "I don't want to know until Little Bean is born."

"What if you have twins?" she asked. I stared at her with big eyes.

"Why would you wish that upon me?!" I asked. Tina tried not to laugh. Mei reached over and hit her on the arm.

"Ow," she whimpered.

"That's not funny," Mei said.

"Mei," I said. She and Tina pretended to be little angels. I sighed and rubbed my forehead. It didn't help that the clan mothers were smiling at me.

It was a nice day so we decided to eat outside. It was Szu's turn to pick the restaurant. She smiled when she joined our party on the Liao-Wang Property.

"What did you pick for us?" Hark asked. Her daughter grinned.

"You'll have to see when we get there," she said. Szu smiled with a V-sign. Usually, I would get nervous hearing that. But, Szu has yet to let me down on out all-girls' outings. This time, she didn't fail to impress. We ended up at this garden restaurant. A small, trendy place. We heard the fountains goings as we walked through the wire arch. I had never seen so much green everywhere. The plants did look like they needed a little water though. Szu turned to us, smiling.

"Well?" she asked. I looked around with a smile on my face as I touched my belly.

"Good," I said. "How did you find this place?"

"The internet," Szu said. Of course she did. That's now the youth are today. A hostess walked over to our party and sat us down at a table near the street behind the hedge. We all made our drink orders. I myself ordered green tea. But, my mind wandered elsewhere as the ladies descended into chatter.

I looked around the outside café and spotted a white fountain across from our combined tables near the register. This wasn't eroded from the rain either. No, the fountain still pristine and white in the sunlight. The more I looked at it, the more I remembered an odd dream I had last night. There was uncooked rice raining from the sky. I couldn't keep count of how many grains fell from the empty black sky. I put up my hand to catch the rice but it fell through my thin fingers. Each grain landed on the black inky surface I was floating above. Funny thing was that the rice didn't change color. The rice just floated on the surface and stayed pure. No patterns formed around my feet. The grains seemed to be piling up around my swollen ankles. I could feel Little Bean jumping around inside of me. Oddly enough, it didn't hurt. As the rice started piling up around us, I started laughing as I held out my arms.

"Ju? Ju?" I heard someone asking behind me. I turned to see Mei's face inches away from mine.

"What?" I asked. My dear friend tilted her head.

"I know the fountain looks pretty, but can you stay on earth with us?" she asked. I blinked at her at first.

"Huh? Oh, sorry about that," I said.

"You feeling okay?" she asked.

"Yeah, I just remembered a strange dream I had last night," I said. "What does it mean when rice is falling from the sky?" Mei gave me a strange look as she shrugged.

"I have no idea," she said.

"Ah, did you say that you had dreams about rice?" Wan asked, turning to us.

"Yes," I said. "There was rice raining from the sky. It landed on this black inky surface, but the rice didn't stain. It stayed white as it piled up around us." The other women had their eyes on me. Wan broke into a huge smile.

"That is good luck," she said. Mei rolled her eyes. I tilted my head.

"Really?" I asked.

"Where I come if you dream of rice falling from the sky, you will have good luck for the next ten years," Wan said. The mothers of the clan whistled and looked surprised.

"I never heard that," I said.

"Do you really believe that?" Mei asked. I didn't answer.

"It could be possible," I mumbled to myself.

"Are you serious?" she asked. I shook my head as our drinks arrived at the table.


	22. Dokkaebi

Math Twenty-Two: Dokkaebi:

It's not good enough. Their missiles aren't a match for the monster under the sea. It didn't even do any damage.

Mi-Soon collapsed onto her bed. What were they missing here? Their scientists keep examining every possibility imagined. Mi-Soon began to fear the worst. The one thing they had on their side was that monster was still asleep No activity showed up on the radar. The soldiers didn't know how long that would last. They still didn't have much information on the creature. The size could cover the ocean floor and color blended in with the sand. They couldn't find any features on the body. It amazed the soldiers that no missile could wake up this damned creature. The "testing" turned into a game, really.

The Korean woman picked up her phone. No calls from her brother tonight. He started avoiding her for some reason lately. Doesn't he realize that he is in danger? Did the rest of the family get to him?

At least one person believed her.

And speak of the devil, Mi-Soon's phone rang. Her heart leapt up in her chest before it sank.

"Hello?" she asked.

"How have you been doing?" Wang Ja asked. Mi-Soon sighed.

"Not good," she said. "I fear for us all."

"What's going on now?" her brother asked.

"I can't really tell you," Mi-Soon said. She pushed her bangs from her forehead. Her boss gave her strict instructions not to talk about the mission. Who would believe them? The whole world didn't seem to trust them at all. The didn't like the previous boss. Why would they trust the new guy?

"I don't know what to do here," Mi-Soon said. "How are you holding up?"

"Not so good," Wang Ja said. "I still can't leave this damned place."

"How is your boss?" his sister asked. There was a pause over the other line.

"I think he's up to something," the Hong Kong whispered. "I am not exactly sure what. Are you free tomorrow?"

"Not really." But then, Mi-Soon paused. "I think I can try and get out of drills for a few minutes with information gathering."

"Oh good. Meet me out in the woods near your place."

"Okay." Mi-Soon looked around her room. Her boss kept tabs on all of the workers in their homes. Privacy was non-existent in home.

"Thank you," Wang Ja said. "I will try to come up with an excuse to go out and do some shopping." His sister shook her head.

"No, thank you," she said. "Good night."

"Good night," he said back. Mi-Soon held her phone to her chest after she hung up. Maybe Wang Ja could be the key to saving her twin from the appending apocalypse coming for them all. Mi-Soon rolled over to her other side.  _Brother, wait for me…_

* * *

The next day felt so cold, too cold to be summer. Mi-Soon wrapped her jacket around her body. She and Im Yong used to play out in these woods when they were younger. The trees were their castle.

"You will be my queen," her brother said. Mi-Soon felt so happy to hear him say that. The trees hadn't changed at all after all of these years. Mi-Soon felt like twirling around with her hands out. But, she didn't have time to relive her simple childhood. She paused when she heard footsteps approaching her.

"Brother?" Mi-Soon asked. She glanced over her shoulder. Wang Ja walked up the hill of the dry grass.

"Yo," he said, putting up his hand.

"Are you along?" she asked.

"Yes," Wang Ja said. Mi-Soon turned around. The Hong Kong man stood with his bags of groceries in his hand. Mi-Soon raised any eyebrow.

"Are you planning a party?" she asked.

"No, it's a cover," he said. "I told my boss I would get ingredients for dinner." Wang Ja looked behind him and all around.

"I will make this quick. I don't have much time," he said.

"Okay," the Korean girl said in a whisper. Wang Ja pressed his lips together.

"Before I say anything, promise me that you won't tell anyone," he said. "I could get people in trouble if anyone knows that I said anything. I don't care about my boss. But, I can't let anything happen to Lin Yi. This is all Yao's fault that we're involved with the boss! She doesn't deserve any of it! Okay, maybe Toris too. And those other two guys. The point is, I don't want to put us all in danger if this gets out."

"I understand," Mi-Soon said.

"Thank you," Wang Ja said, bowing his head. His sister shuffled her feet for a little bit.

"What did you want to tell me?" she asked. Her brother took a deep breath and started to talk. Mi-Soon pushed her focus through the wind blowing through the trees as Wang Ja spoke.

* * *

Im Yong took slow breaths in his room. Lately, he's starting to have headaches. They started off as minor and easily to cure. Within weeks, the headaches began to get worse. The medication wasn't working anymore. Even his classmates started to notice that something was wrong.

"What's the matter, Im Yong?" Jin-ho asked.

"I don't feel so good," he said in a soft voice. He got up and walked out of the classroom.

"Im Yong?" she asked after him. This morning, his headache was so bad that he didn't go to school. The poor boy couldn't breathe or get out of bed.

_Why is this happening to me?_

The headaches weren't the only thing plaguing him. Last night, Im Yong could've sworn he heard whispering from the hallway. He tried to ignore it, but the whispering kept going back and forth. They sounded like two little kids trading secrets from each other. That shouldn't be possible.  _Who the hell got into my house?_  Im Yong got up from his computer and took a look in the hallway. As expected, there was nobody there. The Korean boy looked around with a confused look on his face.

_Am I going crazy?_

No, he wasn't going crazy. In fact, it was about to get worse.


	23. Witches' Feast

Match Twenty-Three: Witches' Feast:

Summer will be ending in two weeks. The nightcomers love the fall. Halloween is their favorite day. Arthur has embraced them. He walks around with a demented smile on his face. They placed a crown of dried flowers on his head. There seems to be no one home inside.

Tonight was going to be a special night.

For weeks, neighbors had been wondering what was going on in Arthur's flat. It always looked so dark. Nobody went in there. Arthur wandered around outside as if in a daze. He doesn't even look dressed to go outside. They even wondered where the rest of him went with his weight. Meanwhile, there were women bringing dead flowers into the flat. None of them ever speak to them. Well, only one spoke to the neighbors.

Today, Allison stretched her neck around. She felt a pair of prying eyes upon her. The nightcomer turned to the hedge next to her.

"Good morning!" she shouted, waving. An old lay quickly stood up with a cup of tea in her hand.

"Um… good morning," she said. "How are you today?"

"Splendid," Allison said. "And yourself?"

"Fine, I guess…" the old lady said. Her voice trailed off. She wanted to ask more questions, but something about Allison's presence warned her not to.

"Can I help you?" the nightcomer asked. The old lady quickly shook her head.

"No, no!" she said. She turned and ran back into her flat. Allison smiled and shook her head.

"Strange woman," she muttered to herself. The nightcomer turned and walked into the flat. She had other things on her mind to think about.

* * *

The flat smelt like a corpse. It's always cold inside. They've always had the lights turned off. Arthur sat at the TV in a daze. The sisters didn't bother him. He's not needed for now. They have him broken enough. The nightcomers had work to do around the flat.

The nightcomers threw flowers around the floor. This was part of the ritual. This flat needed to be blessed by the earth and darkness. Preparation would take three days. Hecate filled the bathtub with cold water. She spilled sand into the bottom. The nightcomer threw jasmines into the water as well. After Hecate cut off the water, she covered up the tub. She walked out the bathroom and turned off the lights.

Lucy sprinkled ash on the dried flowers. Sage hung from the ceiling. She reached up and straightened one them. Every door in the flat had to be opened. Same with the windows. One candle had to set in the window. Don't light them yet. Those will be saved for the ritual. That would take place within three days' time.

Allison had been counting down to this moment. Too many time loops made the possibility seem so far away. Tandeki finally managed to move forward for a change. Six gates in Ikebukuro were open. They couldn't find the seventh one yet. In the meantime, they had that ritual to prepare for.

First came burning the sage. One of the younger daughters used her power to light it.

"Not too much," Allison said. "We don't want to burn the house down."

"Yes mother," the young nightcomer said. The scent of the sage filled the room. It reached Arthur as he sat in front of the TV. Something suddenly triggered in his brain. What was left of him couldn't trace what it was. But, it took him back to a past that he never thought that he had. The thoughts alone made him shiver.

* * *

-London, 1970's-

He loved his new friends. Ever since that party back in the summer, they never left him. They were better than real people. They didn't try to change him. Pressures of the real world didn't exist between them. They all liked him just the way that he was. His friends were not "normal". They took on different shapes and colors. They always floated around him. The bright colors made him smile. He reached up to touch one of them. His fingers went through their see-through bodies. They didn't seem to mind that he tried to touch him. Yes, they did talk to him. He would talk back to them like they were normal people. Sometimes, he would laugh along with them.

It was all that he could to keep from crying.

He got lost in his room for hours at a time. Sometimes even days. He always had a crooked smile on his face. His family and real friends wondered what was happening to him. Some had their suspicions. He started to push them away. Why couldn't they let him be happy? He was just fine with his friends that only he could see. They took very good care of him. The real people couldn't see it that way.

No one could pull him back out. His family and real friends' voices couldn't reach him. He doesn't wish it to be so. His world began to shrink the more he followed Alice down her rabbit hole. What he didn't realize was that his days were burning away. The happy colors blinded him from reality. All of his real friends had no choice but to abandon him. His family started to do the same. It didn't matter to him. All that mattered was his friends in his head. They would never walk away from him. They would never betray him. They were always there for him.

Probably the reason why his body was found in his flat weeks later alone and forgotten.

* * *

-Reality-

Allison leaned down to Arthur's side. She kissed him on the cheek.

"Don't you worry," the nightcomer whispered. "You are just seeing your past life right now." Tears rolled down the vacant man's cheeks.

"They are only temporary," Allison whispered. "You won't wake up until after the festival. Sleep well, my lovely." She kissed him on the cheek and headed to the kitchen. He sat there, motionless. Surely someone had to be asking questions. Someone had to be at this point.

Meanwhile, the nightcomers are about done with the prep work. Allison watched as her daughter pushed a whole lamb into the sink.

"Everything about set?" she asked.

"Yes!" the younger of the sisters said. Allison smirked as she rubbed her hands together.

"Excellent," she said. For too long she had waited for this. In her mind, the supreme counted up how she got here.

* * *

Allison used to be on her own. In the begging, no one seemed to notice her. She had no origin. Most would say that she came out of nowhere. Lucky for her, Allison had her wits, beauty, and skills to lay down the first brick to her plans. She didn't have to rely on a man to get her where she was.

In those days, she had to be careful. Witches were persecuted in those days. The smart flew to the new world in the west. She stayed in the United Kingdom and hid plain sight. Allison bid her time as she formed her ultimate plans in her head. She had everything set for creating the new world. Sure, there were some pieces missing, but those would be falling into her lap for years to come.

Right now, she needed to focus accomplishing that first step.

* * *

-Present Day-

Allison looked at her cell phone. The feast would begin at sundown. The ritual was to begin at midnight. She looked over at Arthur sitting in the living room in front of the TV. The nightcomer smirked.

"Just a little bit longer," she said to herself. Allison shoved her phone back into her pocket.

"Girls!" she shouted. "Time to finish with the dinner!"

"Yes mother!" her daughters said. Meanwhile, Arthur sat in the living room dazed with tears in his eyes. Despite being broken, he knew the horrors that would unfold for him tonight.


	24. Sirena Mabon

Match Twenty-Three: Sirena Mabon:

-Russia-

This happened before the sixth Gate to the Apocalypse opened in Ikebukuro.

Ivan brought in twenty homeless protect for Project Drioma. Everything about this set-up felt eerily familiar. The white walls. The blinding lights. The lab coats. Somehow, he thought of Moscow in the 1950's. He could see himself sitting on his bed. They didn't restrain him last night. They had to cut him nails and his hair. He still had the urge to die. Anything to make the voice in his head shut up.

That's when the door opened. She's back again. What was she going to do him now? She pushed her tray in front of him. She started talking to him. He couldn't make out what she was saying. But then, she picked up the biggest needle on the tray.

"Ivan? Ivan?" he asked. The tall Russian man looked up. Alisa stood, looking up at him.

"You feeling okay?" she asked. Ivan blinked for a moment.

"Oh," he said. "Don't worry about it. Let's just start the experiment."

"Right…" Alisa said. She turned to the test subjects in the white room. The woman Ivan about ran over glared at him. In truth, they were only here for the free meals and lodging. Anything to get what they needed, right?

"Begin the experiment," Alisa said over the microphone.

"Copy that," Adrik said. He turned to the twenty men and women in the room. They all varied from ages fifteen to forty-one. No one would miss them. Putin wasn't going to say anything either. As far as he knew, this experiment doesn't exist.

First came the pills. They came three colors: white, red, and purple. The test subjects hare to take the white pill for three days. Three video cameras were placed in the room, set to record at all times. Karp and Adrik would be taking notes and observing. All twenty subjects would take that little white pill around 6:00 p.m. Their meals were kept light, mostly raw and cooked vegetables. The test subjects didn't complain. They were just happy to get food.

Ivan looked at one of the trays and began to think began to that mental hospital in the 1950's. It was winter, maybe Christmas in this memory. That nurse came back into his room. She was humming a happy little Christmas jingle that morning. This would be the first time he heard her voice loud and clear.

"Good morning!" she said in a cheerful tone. "How are you doing this morning, _?" He mumbled something to her, but his own voice didn't come out so clear. The nurse didn't pay much attention to his response.

"That's good," she said as she picked up a dish covered in a metal cover. This was the first time he could see her face.

All twenty test subjects cleared the first test. No signs of negative effects. The test subjects acted normal like they had before they started this experiment. Alisa walked around with a flashlight and flashed it into their eyes.

"Everyone is still conscious and breathing," she said. "We can initiate the next phase."

"Yes," Karp said.

Next were the red pills. Same routine as before. However, there were some minor changes. The red pills had to be taken first thing in the morning for five days. The test subjects were not allowed to have any meat or oils in their diets. Other than that, everything stayed the same.

"What is the point of this experiment?" the woman Ivan nearly ran over asked when they started having out the red pills.

"Don't worry about it," Alisa said. She stuffed the pill into the woman's mouth. Alisa decided that she would have to keep a close eye on that one. When she walked out of the room, she whispered something into Adrik's ear. He nodded once and handed her the recording from last night. The woman Ivan nearly ran over shivered after the pill started to activate in her body.

Ivan's mind with back to that nurse as Alisa walked out of the room.

That nurse looked just as pale as the room he was trapped in. Her clothes always looked so clean and pressed. She never wore make-up or polish. If it wasn't for her long dark hair, he would've confused her for a ghost. Her eyes were a dull grey.

"Are you even real?" he asked.

"Excuse me?" she asked. He leaned forward with his eyes narrowed.

"Are you even real or am I imagining you?" he asked.

"Of course I am real," the nurse said. "Why wouldn't I be?" She's lying, she had to be. The nurse walked up to him with that metal tray.

"It's time for you to eat," she said. The nurse removed the cover. The food always looked the same. Bland and tasteless. He stared down at his tray. He shoved the tray away.

"What's the matter?" she asked.

"You're trying to kill me, aren't you?" he asked.

"Kill you?" the nurse asked.

"Yes!" he shouted. He probably looked like a demon in her eyes. She had no expression on her face.

"I told you, we are here to help," the nurse said.

"Lies!" he shouted. "You're all lying! You just want to kill me!" The voices started up in his head. He started breathing heavily.

"Now _, I am going to need you to calm down," she said.

"No!" he snapped. The colors started to blend together. She might have turned to run over to the emergency button. Everything was a blur from here. The last thing he could remember was lunging forward to that damned nurse.

One test subject died after the five days. He was forty-one years old. His skin was covered in black and red spots. The scratch marks on his neck and face showed that he didn't die quietly. The "official" cause of death was him choking on his own tongue. Alexander and Boris took away the body without saying a word. Two more test subjects had scratch marks on their necks and faces.

Alisa walked over, examining the other test subjects. The woman Ivan ran over was still conscious. But, she sat in the corner, trembling.

"What the fuck are you doing to us?!" she said with chattering teeth. She had small red marks the size of an American dime on her skin. Alisa shined her flashlight into the woman's eyes.

"Hm… that's really interesting," she said.

"What?" the test subject asked. Alisa turned off her flashlight. She took down a quick note and walked out of the room.

"Wait! Where are you going? Come back. Come back!" the woman pleaded. That last "come back" was drowned out by the sound of the thick steel door, closing. Aside from the oldest man dying, the two test subjects in serious pain, and five more starting to get sick to the point of vomiting and hair loss, the next phase was good to go.

Finally came the purple pill. The test subjects had to take this pill every four hours for eight days. They were only allowed to drink milk daily. No food was allowed. The woman that Ivan ran over looked up at Alisa on day three with bags under her eyes.

"Why are you doing this to us?" she asked. Alisa didn't even answer her as she forced another pill into her mouth. Alisa and her team had a way to make sure that every pill was swallowed and not spat out. Karp and Adrik kept close watch on them after all. Alisa would have one of her assistants walk around and check for any sticky pills on the floor.

The whole time Ivan watched them. He had his eyes on the woman that he ran over. He could see her pain etched into her face. She clutched her stomach as if she was about to give birth. The woman had her eyes squeezed shut. Was she crying?

Ivan's mind went back to the 1950's.

He bit on his hand. Blood covered the floor. He didn't mean to kill her. It just happened. She was trying to poison him. He had to defend himself. They would understand, wouldn't they?

_No they won't._

His eyes darted around the room. The white walls became a monster on their own. It felt like the whole room was closing in on him. Those voices came back.

_Murderer._

_You didn't have to kill that girl._

"She's trying to poison me."

_Was she really though?_

He paused. "I… I… I…"

_You really did mess up._

_They won't let you go for this._

_You can't escape from this._

_It's over for you._

He bit on his hand so hard that it started to bleed. His whole body started shaking. He turned to look around in his white-walled prison. The monster had its mouth, waiting to swallow him. He drew his knees to his chest.

"What should I do?"

_You know what to do._

His eyes opened wide. They probably shouldn't have left the bottom sheet from the bed. He wouldn't be found until the next day. The nurse would be the one to find him.

Only eight test subjects were still alive. Two of them had completely broken limbs. Another choked on his tongue. The rest had their organs just stop. Not a single drop of blood on their bodies or on the floor or walls. They just dropped dead with their eyes opened. The woman that Ivan about ran over was sitting in the corner, biting on her hand. Her eyes looked glassed over. Alisa shined her light in them.

"You people are evil," the woman muttered with chattering teeth. Alisa turned off her flashlight and clicked on her radio.

"Experiment is complete," she said. "We can move onto part two of Project Drioma."

"Copy that," Adrik said through the airwaves. "Take the remaining subjects to the green room."

"Yes, sir," Alisa said. The bodies were covered up and taken away. Karp and Alexander hauled away the living test subjects. The woman that Ivan nearly ran over passively resisted as they took her out of the room. Her eyes met with Ivan's for a brief moment as she passed by him. Ivan could see the fire in her eyes before they took her away. He saw a little bit of himself in her.

For this, she had to survive and evolve.

* * *

-England-

This happened after the sixth Gate to the Apocalypse opened in Ikebukuro.

The festival began tonight. Allison opened the front door. She closed her eyes and smiled as she felt the cool wind blew on her face.

"It's time," she said. Allison turned and walked back into the flat. She made her way into the living room. The smell of sage floated through the rooms. Allison could feel the moss at her toes. All of her daughters were dressed in long white see-through gowns. They had no shoes on their feet. Their wreathes were made of dried roses and irises. Allison clapped her hands together.

"Is everyone ready?" she asked.

"Yes," the nightcomers said. Their mother headed into the living room. All of the women follow her. Arthur sat at the TV in the living room.

The table has silver on the table. Allison and her daughters sit around waiting for the feast before the ritual can begin. Their mother holds up her silver chalice of red wine.

"To the pending new world!" she said.

"Hail, hail!" her daughters said. Hecate and Lucy smiled as they drank up. Allison took off her ruby necklace and dropped it into her chalice.

"Tonight, we celebrate the coming of the new world by waking the beast of England!" she shouted.

"Hail, hail!" her daughters shouted.

"We will start by stabbing the heart of the white beast!" Allison shouted. She rose to her feet with the silver knife in her hand. Her daughters looked up when they heard wheels rolling into the room. A ghostly woman was pushing a cart with a fleshy white heart that looked drained of blood. Her daughters began softly chanting. Allison closed her eyes and hold out the night.

"Great lord of the darkness, taketh thine dagger and cut the ties to the light!" she chanted. "Great lord of the darkness, taketh thine dagger and cut the ties to the light! Great lord of the darkness, taketh thine dagger and cut the ties to the light! Great lord of the darkness, taketh thine dagger and cut the ties to the light!" The supreme opened her eyes and the knife started to heat up and glow.

"Long live the new world!" she yelled.

Stab!

The knife went deep into the white flesh. The squish sound rang in her ears. Allison kept her hand to the handle and started chanting again. The blade slowly went in deeper.

Meanwhile, Arthur could feel a sharp pain in his chest. An invisible knife went into his heart. The Englishman couldn't scream or even gasp. Chains started wrapping around his body. Tears ran down his cheeks.

_Help… me…_

Allison stuck up two fingers in the air. "I cut the ties to the light! Plunge into the darkness!" She drops her fingers to her side.

Arthur let out a voiceless scream.

The supreme yanked out the knife. She wiped the sweat away from her forehead.

"It's done," Allison said. She sat back down at the head of the table.

"Now, we can eat," the supreme said. Her daughters cheered. The maid rolled away the flesh as it turned back and started to crumble. Another maid rolls out another cart of food. Everyone ate their dinner. Chatter filled the dining room. It looked like an end-of summer dinner of meat and roasted vegetables. Allison smiled over her red wine.

Suddenly, the room went silent as footsteps walked into the dining room.

Arthur stood in the doorway. His eyes looked dead with a vacant smile on his face. Allison held out her arms.

"Welcome, dear Arthur," she greeted him. "So glad that you could join us. Come, take a seat. We have been expecting you." The Englishman walked over to the table as if in a daze. He took his seat at the other end of the table. Allison smiled as sipped her wine.

After dinner, the second ritual would take place.


	25. Befreiung

Match Twenty-Four: Befreiung:

The woman in the red coat turned and hissed. A light swung around in the darkness.

"Harel!" an old lady's voice called. "What holds you here?" The ghost could see a face in the darkness. The tired eyes locked on her. Ludwig looked up from his small cage in the ground.

"Mother?" he asked. Lydia growled.

"Who are you?" she asked. The face revealed itself to belong to an old woman dressed in a brown cloak. She held out her light in front of her. The ghost started to shy away from it.

"Get away from me!" she cried. "Stay away! Stay away!"

"Why are you haunting this man when you know that he has apologized for wronging you?" the old woman asked. "Please leave him alone or you will kill him." Lydia Harel hissed.

"You know nothing!" she said.

"I want to know," the old lady said. "Talk to me." Tears filled the ghost's eyes.

"You don't understand!" she said.

"I want to," the old woman said. She took a step closer, but Lydia stepped back. The ghost shook her head.

"This has to be done! I can't stop it!"

"Is something holding you here?"

"Yes."

"Who are they?"

"I cannot say."

"Tell me who it is."

"I can't!"

"Is it her?"

Silence ripped the air. Time never existed it this place. Ludwig could barely see anything from the hole his past lover trapped him in. He only saw Lydia and the light inches away from her. The German man couldn't see the old woman. Meanwhile, the ghost trembled. She appeared to be shrinking away the closer the old woman came. The light seemed to be hurting her. The old woman gave her a look of pity.

"I release you," the old woman said.

"No," Lydia said.

"I release you."

"No."

"I release you!"

"No!" Lydia's body went stiff. The old woman could see inside of her heart.

* * *

Lydia had everything. She loved her family. Her parents' bakery flourished. Poland was poor, but peaceful at the time. The old lady's eyes searched around through the darkness of Lydia's heart. She didn't flinch at the smell of blood. Either did she flinch at the smell of burning, rotting flesh. The screaming rang around her ears. The wailing floated behind her head. Clouds of smoke couldn't stop her.

_Get out! Stop! Stop!_

"No. We are almost there. I will release you. I will release both of you!"

_No! You can't!_

"Hush!" The old lady felt the darkness closing in on her. She didn't pay it any mind. For her attention was directed towards a locked wooden door in the middle of this wailing darkness.

"Oh, I see," the old woman said. "It's in here, isn't it?" She took slower steps towards the door. Lydia's pounding heart ripped through the air. The old lady reached out for the wooden surface.

_No! Don't go in there!_

The old lady put her hand on the door knob. She could hear the sizzling from the surface. The whole door turned black.

"You will not turn me back," she said. "I am releasing you!" The old lady forced the wooden door open. Lydia began to scream.

_No!_

The door clicked open. Cold air hit the old lady in the face. She would not turn back. She stared down the black void in front of her. Lydia wasn't screaming anymore. The old lady took slow steps inside. There was no sound around her. She couldn't smell anything either. The old lady held out her lantern.

"Come out and show yourself," she said. "I will not hurt you. I only wish to release you." The old lady saw something standing in the distance. There. She couldn't run over to it. Sudden movements could have her trapped inside of this limbo forever. Instead, she held up her lantern.

A skinny man stood inches away from her. He looked so pale, almost white as snow. He was naked and the old lady could see the bones through his skin. His eyes… well… he had no eyes. They were just empty pits in his head. His mouth looked stitched closed. Scars covered his body. It didn't take long for the old lady to figure out who he was.

"It's not your fault," she said. "You fell in love, but it wasn't meant to be." Tears rolled down from the empty eyes.

"I know," the old lady said. "I feel your pain." The man didn't move. She reached out to touch his cheek.

"Give me your burdens," the old lady said. "I will release you." Her fingertips touched his sullen cheek. His body broke down into light and dust.

"Yes," the old lady said. Little particles of dust sprinkled down onto the darkness. Her lips curved into a smile. Everything broke down around her. All the old lady saw was light. Ludwig and Lydia Harel stood before her. He was in a soldier uniform from World War II. She looked much healthier with a fuller body in her long red coat. The young couple held hands.

"Now do you see?" the old lady asked. "He never betrayed you. The war was what tore you apart. You died while he was in a coma." The soldier pulled Harel into his arms.

"She's right," he said. "Can you forgive me?" Lydia lowered her head.

"Yes," she said. Young Ludwig kissed her on the forehead.

"I love you," he whispered.

"I love you too," she said. They shared another kiss. The old woman smiled as she waved her lantern. Ludwig and Harel faded away into white butterflies. She lowered her lantern.

"I have released you," she said. The old woman herself vanished into thin air.

* * *

At 4:55 a.m., present-day Ludwig awoke in his hospital bed.


	26. Naraka

Match Twenty-Five: Naraka:

Kiku won't get out of bed. A massive fever is crushing down on his body. Sana put a cold cloth on his forehead.

"Is this her doing?" she whispered. Kiku slowly nodded. He could barely his wife's voice. But, he knew what she was talking about. The Japanese man can't bring himself to sleep in the darkness. The dreams will start up again. His flesh smelt like it was burning.

He started to mumble something to her.

"Hm?" Sena asked.

"Thirsty…" Kiku murmured.

"Okay," she said. Sena reached over to the mini-fridge and opened it. She had to move certain things into their room so that she wouldn't have to go far. Kiku grew afraid of being alone. Sena can't even go to work without having to call someone to take care of her ailing husband.

"Please… I don't want to be alone," Kiku pleaded.

"I won't leave you," Sena whispered. She doesn't know how long he can keep this up. His body got weaker each day. She had never seen him so pale before in her life. Then, there was last night. He said something that haunted her even right now.

"I can see hell."

The way he said it made it worse. Monotone, deadpan. His soul had been sucked out of his body. Sena fought to keep smiling, but the cracks started to show.

"You can't mean that," she told him. Kiku didn't say a word. Sena's stomach turned.

Ring!

Sena turned her head. Oh, that was just her phone. She felt around for it in the dim morning light.

"Hello?" she asked.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Wrong number. Goodbye," the caller on the other line said. Sena sighed and dropped her shoulders. Just a wrong number, huh? She looked down at her husband half-asleep.

"It was just a wrong number," Sena said.

* * *

He could hear screaming. It's a woman's voice. She was in pain. He knew why.

"It's not my fault," Kiku said. "It's not my fault!"

"You killed me."

The Japanese man turned around. Another woman stood inches away. She was dressed up like a bride. Blood streamed from her black-hole eyes. Her mouth was coming unstitched.

"Murderer…" she said. She walked towards him like a zombie doll. It looked like her flesh was rotting off.

"I don't know you," Kiku said.

"Liar," the woman said. Her voice sounded like a broken mechanical bird. A squeak sound came out from her vocal chords. Fingers caressed Kiku's back. His eyes looked behind him. Red eyes stared back at him.

* * *

Kiku's body shook on the outside.

"Honey?" Sena asked. "Honey?" He started making gasping noises. She panicked as she looked for her phone.

"Come on. Come on!" she muttered to herself. Sena finally found her phone. She dialed for the hospital.

"119, what is your emergency?" the operator asked. Sena pressed her lips together.

"It's my husband," she said. "He's having one of his fits." Her eyes moved back and forth. Kiku stared up at her with big eyes.

"Is he breathing?" the operator asked.

"Yes!" Sena shouted. Her voice disappeared into muffled sounds.

* * *

The smell of death lingered overhead. Kiku covered his nose. The rotting bride started to bleed from her mouth.

"Your end is near…" she whispered. The hands clawed at his back. Her nails touched his spine. Kiku sucked in a mouthful of air.

"Please…" he pleaded.

"Please what?" another woman asked. Kiku didn't wish to look up. Drip. Drip. Drip. Cold drops landed on his head.

"Spare me?" he asked. Laughter bounced around everywhere.

"Spare you? Why should we?" the women asked. Kiku froze as his wrists and ankles turned black.

* * *

The EMT's arrive. Kiku can barely see anything now. The men taking him had to hold their breaths as they carried him away. One of them started asking Sena questions.

"Has he been bathing lately?" he asked.

"Of course," she said. "I help him bathe every day." She noticed the odd look on his face.

"What? I have been taking care of him! Don't look at me like that," Sena said.

"Ma'am, I didn't say anything like that," the EMT said. Sena glared at him.

"I am taking care of him," she said.

"I didn't say that you weren't."

"You made it sound like I did."

"I assure you that wasn't the intention."

"Came off that way." Sean snorted and rolled her eyes. Meanwhile, Kiku went into the back of an ambulance. His head sank deeper into hell.

* * *

Fire burned under the blackened ground. Kiku felt like he was choking.

"Don't you see?" that damned woman whispered behind him. "The world is unrevealing. I will be free again." Kiku frantically shook his head.

"No… No…" he said. She licked his ear.

"It's too late. We're almost ready to be free," she said. The blackened ground started getting hotter. It felt like knives stabbing his feet. Kiku's hands, feet, back, and forehead started turning black. His throat tightened up. The Japanese man's eyes moved behind him. Her smile revealed rows upon rows of fangs.

* * *

It would take about three hours to get to the hospital. Traffic wasn't too bad tonight. Sena held Kiku's hand the whole ride.

"Stay with me, baby," she said. "We'll get you the help you need!" Kiku stared at her with dead eyes. He could barely see her anymore. Her voice disappeared between the screaming and static noises. Sena's face resembled a creepy mask. Kiku gasped as his body started shaking.

"Baby?" she asked. EMT's got to work trying to stabilize him. Kiku took a deeper gasp. He couldn't hear his wife screaming out to him.

* * *

The bride's body started to fall to pieces. Blood appeared through the cracks.

"You did this to me! You did this to me!" she screamed. "You must pay! You must pay!" Her body fell to pieces before Kiku's eyes. He couldn't scream out. The nails in his sunk in deeper. Blood ran from his eyes.

"For… give… me…" he whispered. His body went limp. Her nails left his spine. He collapsed in her arms. She held his head to her chest. It all slowly became dark.

* * *

Kiku would end up in the hospital for the rest of summer and early fall. Sena sat by his side. Her husband kept mumbling something in his sleep.

"I'm sorry… I'm sorry… I'm sorry…"

Sena moved her hand to her chest. What was really going on here?

She looked up when there was a knock on the door. An old lady stood in the doorway. She leaned on a wooden crane with her eyes on Kiku. Sena tilted her head.

"What?" she asked. The old lady shook her head.

"Your husband is cursed," she said. "The Woman in Red is spreading her poison in his body." Usually, Sena would've told someone like this off. But something about this woman told her to take notice.

"Who are you?" the younger woman asked.

"Can I come in and talk to you?" the old lady asked.

"I guess…" Sena said.

"Thank you," the old woman said. She closed the door behind her.


	27. Great Sugi of Kayano

Match Twenty-Six: Great Sugi of Kayano:

It wasn't supposed to happen like this. By the time Alfred realized what had happened, it was too late to turn back. He remembered what happened before and the aftermath, but not the events in the middle.

It started three days ago.

-Start-

Lydia had to go away for the weekend. It started with a call from an old friend of her parents'.

"Hello?" the girl asked.

"Is this Lydia?" a woman asked. A confused look came over Lydia's face.

"Why?" she asked.

"You do not remember me, but my name is Ellie," the woman said on the other line. "I was friends with your parents." Lydia's eyes shifted back and forth.

"Okay…" she said.

"How is your sister?" Ellie asked.

"Fine…" Lydia couldn't figure out who she was talking to. Ellie wasn't ringing any bells in her head.

"I'm sorry, but what is your last name?" she asked.

"Oh, I apologize," Ellie said with a chuckle. "My name is Ellie Roberts." The name sounded familiar.

"Okay…" Lydia said. The call didn't last for a long time. But, she couldn't stop thinking about Ellie. Who was she really? Why did she call? Lydia had to go and find this woman and see who she was. Right now, all she had was a name. After some Google searches, her quest began. It took her about three weeks, tops. She tracked down the name and address. Apparently, Ellie lived all the way down in Texas. That seemed pretty far away. Plus, Florence's health was still spiraling down the drain. Lydia pressed her lips together as she stared at the screen. There would only be one way to solve this.

This wasn't an easy choice. But first, she had to get someone to watch over Florence. As much as she didn't want to admit it, Lydia only knew one person to call.

"Hey, it's me," she said. "I will need a favor from you." It sounded so bitter in her mouth. But, what choice did she have? She had to find out the truth for herself. Lydia gulped and shut her eyes.

"I will need you to watch over Florence for a few days," she said. Lydia opened her eyes. "Thanks. Here's what you need to do."

* * *

-Day One-

It was supposed to be simple. Alfred had been alone with Florence before. Nothing really happened except for one kiss. Everything should've been fine from there.

Except, those strange visions were getting worse. Alfred could see himself standing in that school hallway again. He could smell himself wasting away. Then, there was her.

"Alfred?" he heard behind him. The American man turned around. Florence stood behind him with a tired smile on his face. He gave her a confused look at first.

"Are you okay?" she asked. "You look so pale." Alfred shook his head.

"Nothing, it's nothing," he lied. "Hey, have you eaten yet?"

"No…" she said.

"Good," Alfred said. "Let's find something to eat." He took her by the arm and led her back into the kitchen. He had to make sure that Florence ate her food. She was starting to eat less and less each day.

"She doesn't have to have a giant portion," Lydia told him over the phone. "Just get her to eat something."

"Alright," he said. Tonight's dinner consisted of wild mushroom soup and a small salad.

"Thank you," Florence said as Alfred served her.

"No problem," he said. The American man joined her at the table. He smiled and took a bite of his soup. He shivered at the bitterness.

"Mmm," Alfred lied. "This is good."  _This tastes like dog crap._  Still, he had to sell this to get her to eat. Lucky for him, she picked up her spoon and took a bite.

"Good?" he asked.

"Yes," she said. Florence took her time eating her food. Something about her triggered a strange memory in Alfred's mind.

"Hey, Florence," he said.

"Yes?" she asked. Alfred tried to think of how he was going to say this but shook his head.

"Never mind," he lied. "It's nothing." Seeing her reminded him of that girl in his visions. She tried to get him to eat. She'd many everything on the tray sound so delicious. He would just sit there in a daze. Nothing seemed to be getting to him anymore. This would be days before he ruined them both.

Back in present day, Alfred rose to his feet.

"Alfred?" Florence asked.

"I'm not hungry anymore," he said. He walked out of the dining room before she could say another word.

The rest of the night went by calmly. Florence had a bath and went to bed. Alfred slept in the guest room across the hall.

* * *

-Day Two-

Pretty much the same as yesterday. Florence mostly stayed asleep in bed. There is not much to do around the house. The girls still had a landline and there was no wi-fi around the house. There was on laptop in Lydia's room, but the door was locked. Alfred laid back on the couch and sighed. He looked at his phone. No texts or calls. Not like he would get much out here anyway. This part of the neighborhood was a dead zone. Now what? Maybe they could go out somewhere. It didn't have to be a lavish trip. Just maybe somewhere to go shopping for groceries. That would be easy enough.

Alfred knocked on Florence's door.

"Hey, Flo!" he shouted. "I'm going to the store. Want to come with me?"

"No thank you," she mumbled behind the door. Alfred put his ear to the door.

"Are you okay in there?" he asked.

"Just a little tired," she said.

"Do you want me to get you anything?"

"No thank you."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

Alfred shrugged his shoulders. "Alright." He turned and walked down the hall. The American man took one more look behind before he left. He shoved his hands into his pocket and got lost in his mind. Alfred began to remember something that Yao asked him a couple of weeks ago.

"Do you believe in past lives?" he asked. The American man gave him a strange look.

"What do you mean?" he asked. The Chinese man had an uneasy look on his face.

"I think my past life is haunting me," he said. Alfred narrowed his eyes.

"What are you talking about?" he asked. Yao shook his head.

"Have you been having strange visions as of late?" he asked. Alfred froze at that question. Usually, he would come up with some joke that would annoy the Chinese man. But the topic and the way Yao said it, told him not to do that.

Today, Alfred tried to put it together. Was that a past life that he kept seeing? If so, why was he seeing it?

Alfred stopped in his tracks when he had the feeling of someone watching him. The American man turned his head against his better judgement.

There was that little girl again. Lately, she hasn't been trying to talk to him. But her staring at him was just as creepy. The child clutched her Hello Kitty backpack and gave him a desperate look. Alfred could feel his heart pounding against his chest.

_Not again… Why do you keep following me? I don't even know you. Who are you? Why won't you leave me alone?!_

His heart pounded faster in his chest. The little girl's gaze burned a hole through his soul. His vision disappeared into shades of red, gray, and black. He tried to grasp onto something, anything as he started falling backwards.

The next thing he knew, he woke on up the couch in Florence's living room. Alfred had no memory of how he got there or what happened in between seeing that creepy little girl again and waking up here.

"Oh, you're awake," he heard someone speak up. Alfred looked and saw Florence standing in front of him. She had to hold herself up with the arm of the couch. The American man blinked without his glasses.

"Dude, what happened to me?" he asked. "Did you bring me home?" She shook her head.

"One of the neighbors found you passed out on the street and brought you home," Florence said.

"Oh…" he said. "Sorry to drag you out of bed like that."

"It's fine," Florence said. "I'm just glad you're okay." Alfred laid back as he tried to piece together what had happened to him moments before.

The rest of the evening proved to be uneventful, but Alfred couldn't help but to start to worry about those visions and that little girl. Were the two connected? What did they mean? Alfred ended up not sleeping that night.

* * *

-Night X-

It had been raining heavily that night. Alfred felt some numb in the darkness. He stared out the window as the raining poured on. He remembered a night like this. It was with that boy in his visions. He was alone with that girl he kept seeing. That night, some harsh things were exchanged. She was mostly screaming at him. Alfred couldn't hear what they were saying, but he could tell that the girl with the long blonde hair was upset with the boy wasting away in front of her. Tears streamed from her face.

"You don't care, do you?!" she asked. "I love you, but you won't even try to save yourself!" The boy sat there, silent with no emotion in his eyes.

Then, the unthinkable happened.

The girl rushed forward and kissed the boy on the lips. He didn't try to stop her. He just let her lead them further down the path to ruin. She took him back to his room and lay back onto his bed. What scared him more was that he found himself getting into it when he didn't want to this. But, the boy didn't have the courage to turn her away. The whole time, he was screaming in his mind.

_What are we doing? Please, stop this. You don't want this. Please… stop._

But, they didn't stop. The boy took off his shirt and didn't know or have the heart to stop the mistake that she and him were about to make. She looked up at him with tears in her eyes, but she didn't stop him. The boy wished that she had. Maybe things would've turned out different. But, he reached down and took off her dress. Things just escalated in his bed.

Just like how things were going to escalate in present day.

Alfred got out of his bed and walked over of to Florence's room. He had no idea why he was doing this. Maybe this was a last-ditch effort to show her his love for her. Maybe he was acting out as his past self. His brain wasn't in control as he opened the door. Alfred couldn't see her in the darkened room, but he knew that she was there. Florence lay there awake in her bed as if she was waiting for him. She watched as he walked over to her bed. He crawled in and climbed on top. The American man could see her deep green eyes glowing in the darkness.

"I love you, Florence," he said. The American man leaned down and kissed her on the lips. She didn't resist just like that boy in his visions. Alfred slid off his shirt and reached for her nightgown. Underneath him, that girl from his vision blended in with Florence. But, somehow this was different. That night was a night of shame and blind desperation. Alfred couldn't make out what this one was. Florence just lay underneath quiet and not resisting. She had her eyes on him the whole time. Even her exchanged looked glassy, almost blank. She didn't even scream when he broke past her hymen. Could she understand what was happening? Did he understand what was happening? Neither one seemed to want to stop. Both Alfred and the boy in the vision closed their eyes and submitted to the outcome.

* * *

-Aftermath-

By the morning, Alfred lay in bed next to Florence. Last night made him shiver. He cursed himself when he saw that tree spirit in the middle of a peaceful sleep as if last night never happened. Part of him wished that it was a dream just like the boy in his vision did. But, both of them knew that it wasn't. That relationship in the past was destroyed. What would the outcome of his and Florence's relationship be?

Furthermore, how would it push the Waste Land into its final stages?


	28. Quiet Afternoon, Little Bean's Future, and Yao's Past Life

Match Twenty-Seven: Quiet Afternoon, Little Bean's Future, and Yao's Past Life:

-Ju-

I love afternoons like this. We don't have to do much. All of our businesses are smooth sailing. Hen-to and Fei are keeping tabs on my uncle and Junjie. Those two haven't done anything yet. (I wouldn't hold my breath, but I don't want to think about them right now.) Yao and I just have the house to myself. I am about to be four months into this pregnancy. Little Bean is doing fine.

I walked into my living room and found Yao sitting on the couch. I smiled and came up behind him.

"Hey," I whispered, hugging him from behind. Yao turned and looked up at me. I giggled.

"Did you just get up?" he asked.

"Nah," I said. "I've been up for quite some time. What are you doing today?"

"Nothing," Yao said. "You?" I shook my head.

"I don't feel like doing anything either," I said. "Hey, let's do nothing together today." I came around and sat down next to him. I broke into a little smile.

"You're in an upbeat mood today," Yao said. "Anything good happen lately?"

"Not really," I said. I leaned my head on his shoulder. "Love you." He patted me on the hand.

"I love you too," Yao said. The silence in the living room put me at ease. The clock in the background reminded me of old times in the house. I would play in the hall while father held meetings in his office. Sometimes, I would peek in and see what was going on. Someone would always have their back to me, blocking my view though.

Come to think of it, not much has changed about this house. It looked the same as it did in the 90's. Still, I notice more and more things about it.

"Yao," I said.

"Hm?" he asked.

"Were the walls in here always this blue?" I asked. I pressed my hand to my stomach. Yao took a look around for himself.

"I don't think so," he said.

"Hm…" I said. I could already hear our child's laughter filling the living room. Little feet running across the floor. When was the last time the living room floor was covered in toys?

"The house is going to be noisy again," I said.

"Yeah," Yao said. "Hen-to said it would be funny if we had twins." I turned to him with big eyes.

"What?!" I shouted. "Why would he wish that on me?!" Yao patted me on the head.

"I can't see two babies in the house," I said. I shivered against him. He gave me a little smile.

"You'll do go no matter how many children we have," Yao said.

"I jut want one baby, thank you!" I said. He laughed at how red my face became.

"It's not funny," I complained.

"But seriously, you will be a great mother," Yao said. I stared at him.

"You think so?" I asked. He put his arm around my shoulders.

"I know," Yao said. I looked out our front window.

"Do you ever wonder what Little Bean will be like when they grow up?" I asked.

"Sometimes," he said. I moved my hand from my belly.

"They will have to lead the clan after we are dead," I said. "The cycle will not end. I took up the job from my father. Little Bean will take up the job from us. Then their children will take the job. Same their children and so on and so far." I sighed and dropped my shoulders.

"What's the matter?" Yao asked.

"It's kind of a sad existence if you think about it," I said. "You have no other career choices in life. You are born here. You will live most of your life here. And you will die here. Father died in this house. I will die in this house our descendants will die in this house." I shook my head.

"I'm sorry if I am sounding so depressing," I said.

"Not at all," Yao said. "That's just how it is."

"Yeah," I said. "Still, I love to think of what life he could have outside of the clan."

"It's nice to dream," he said. I thought about all of the toys piled into my old room. Half for a girl and half for a boy.

"The families keep fighting on whether Little Bean will be a boy or a girl," I said.

"Well, what do you want them to be?" Yao asked. I thought about it for a moment. And then I shrugged and shook my head.

"I don't know," I said. "I guess we'll have to see when the baby is born."

"I'm actually surprised by that," he said. "Usually, your generation wants to know what you're having before the child is born." I shrugged again.

"I guess I am old-fashioned in that way," I said. "I took your last name and now I am not going to know what Little Bean is until they are born."

"But you kept the name of the clan," he said.

"Yeah," I said, nodding. "It's been in that tradition and I don't feel the need to change it. I will do my best as the first female clan leader though." I noticed the worried look on Yao's face.

"Something wrong?" I asked.

"Do you believe in past lives?" he asked in a low voice.

"Okay… that came out of nowhere," I said.

"Do you?" Yao asked.

"I can't speak that I do," I said. "Why do you ask?" Yao started trembling.

"Honey?" I asked. Yao trembled as I reached for his shoulder.

"I worked in a restaurant," he said in a low voice.

"Huh?" I asked. Yao grabbed my hand.

"I worked in a restaurant in the 1930's," he said. "I was a child and my family lived in a poor village. I had to go to work to support them."

"Yao…" I said.

"No, listen!" Yao said. He trembled with his hand over mine. He lowered his gaze. "I worked day and night for little pay. We barely had anything to eat at times. We even had to sleep in the kitchen."

"We?" I asked. He nodded.

"So… There were other kids there?"

"Yes."

"What happened to you?"

"We all died."

"No…"

"We were caught in a structure fire. We were locked in the kitchen. We couldn't get out." He pounded his fists in the air as if beating on a heavy door.

"We couldn't get out. They had us locked inside. No one could hear us screaming. And then… And then…" I rubbed his back.

"Shhh… It's okay," I whispered. "You're hear with me. You are not trapped in the fire. You're here with me." I pulled him into my arms. Yao broke down trembling.

"There, there," I whispered. My own stomach turned. Was that what Man was talking about? I needed to call him as soon as possible. It was then I noticed Yao staring me straight in the eye.

"Please don't leave me?" he asked. I pressed my lips together.

"I won't," I whispered. He rested his head against my chest.

"Thank you," he whispered.

"When did you start to remember this past life?" I asked.

"Just before you got pregnant," Yao said.

"And you don't know why now?"

"No."

"Oh…"


	29. Carbuncle

Match Twenty-Nine: Carbuncle:

Lately, Matthew's been having strange dreams. Two in particular stood out.

-First Dream-

It was supposed to have been a quiet evening. Matthew had just settled in with a warm glass of milk and nice book before bed when he heard a knock on the door.

"Hm?" he asked. "Who is that?" Matthew climbed out of bed and walked over to the front door.

"Who is it?" the Canadian man asked, looking out the peep hole. A figure in a dark brown cloak stood outside on the front porch. They shuffled a bit in place. They looked like they had their head down.

"I'm so cold," they said. The voice sounded female, but hoarse. Almost like she hadn't used her voice in quite some time.

"What?" Matthew asked.

"I am so cold," she said again. "Please let me in." The cloaked female swayed in place. Matthew hesitated with a nervous look on his face. He heard the stories about things like this. If he opened that door, he could be letting in a potential home invasion.

"I'm so cold," the woman said again. Her body seemed to be swaying back and forth. Matthew's eye shifted back and forth.

"Are you lost?" he asked.

"I have nowhere to go," she said.

"Do you need to use the phone?"

"No."

"Do you need directions?"

"I have nowhere to go."

"What do you want from me?"

The woman slowly lifted her head. Matthew still couldn't see her face in her hood. He could've sworn he saw a flash of white underneath.

"I'm cold and I have nowhere to go," she said. "Please let me in." Matthew's stomach turned. Against his better judgement, he nodded.

"Okay…" he said in a trembling voice. The Canadian man unlocked the door and opened it a crack.

"Thank you," the woman said. Matthew stepped aside and let her in. However, she was only the first one.

When he looked up, more people stood outside on the porch. They all wore dark cloaks and had their heads down. Matthew watched in horror as everyone walked in in a single file line. Some had bags on their backs. Others had small children close by their sides. No one made eye contact with him. The Canadian man stepped back as he trembled. Who were these people? Why were they coming here? Matthew froze when one little boy stopped and looked up at him. His hood was off, revealing his face.

His eyes. Matthew had never seen something so dead-looking before in his life. This child had seen so much in his short life. A hand pushed him along in the line. It didn't seem that the row of people would stop coming. More and more began to feel the house. Matthew didn't know how to stop it.

"Get out of my house!" he shouted. His voice got lost under the shuffling footsteps. More people walked by him. The Canadian man tried in vain to stop them, but there were too many of them. They started to push past him and fill up every space of the house.

"Kumajirou!" Matthew yelled. He couldn't even hear his companion's voice over the sounds of shuffling feet. He couldn't see the little bear in the growing crowd.

"It's not their fault," someone whispered. Matthew's eyes glanced over his shoulder. A pale chin rested on his shoulder.

"They were driven here because of the poison that destroyed their homes," a woman's voice whispered. "They have nowhere else to go. You have the only known house that will take them now." Matthew could only watch as more people filled his crowded house.

He had this dream again last night. Matthew didn't know what to make of this dream. How often would it take before a person would sit up and take notice? That time for Matthew was now.

Then there is another dream.

* * *

-Second Dream-

Canada in 1995.

She's out again. How long would it be this time? Days? Weeks? There was even a time where she was gone for months. That time, she came home for Christmas. Even then she didn't pay much attention to him. The next day, she was gone again. Speaking of Christmas, she still hadn't taken the decorations down. The music did little to change his mood. The little boy just laid there on the floor with "Jingle Bells" playing in the background.

When was the last time he had anything to eat? When was the last time he had a bath? How the Christmas lights were still on, he didn't know. The little boy stared up at the dark ceiling. His stomach felt so weak. Any amount of food could put him in the hospital. Why didn't anyone help him? Someone had to know about his condition. Yeah, in fact, somebody did visit the house. He couldn't remember who.

It had to be a little bit before Christmas. Someone knocked on the door and it wasn't his mother. He looked up to see a giant white teddy bear in the window. A person was holding it up. She, pretty sure that it was a she, asked to come up and if he was okay. He didn't speak. He didn't let her in. The child did get to keep the bear. He wished that he could let the woman in. But, his mother wouldn't let him. The reason was lost to him now.

The house had no heat again. It was bad winter that year too. The thin blankets were going to be enough tonight. His mother still wasn't home. Looked like she was going to be out on another long bender. She always did that on a whim. Was she always like this? He couldn't remember anymore. His mouth felt so dry.

_So warm…_

When did it get so warm? The little boy saw a hand caressing his cheek.

"Mama?" he asked. No. That wasn't her. This woman was more loving. Her touch felt so warm. She smiled at him. She spoke, but he could barely her. Still, the little boy understood what she was saying.

"Yes," he said.

"Everything is going to be alright," was the last thing he heard. "Silent Night" played in the background.

His body would not be found until two weeks later.

Neither dream made any sense to Matthew. Kumajirou sat by his bed.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"I'm Matthew, your owner," he complained.

"Is something wrong?" the bear asked. Matthew stared at him as images of that teddy bear from that window flashed before him. The Canadian shook his head.

"Nothing," he muttered, looking down.

"Nightmares again?" the bear asked.

"Yeah," Matthew said. He rolled over and looked out the window. This wasn't the first time that happened to him. The other countries had experienced similar experiences he had. Matthew pulled his sheets tighter and the pillow over his head.

"I don't like this," he mumbled to himself. The Canadian man's stomach turned as he started to tremble.


	30. Kikimora

Match Twenty-Nine: Kikimora:

She had a name back when she was human. Right now, she sat dazed in a white room. She tried to piece together what happened. She could barely see anything because of the bright lights. Her head felt like it was underwater. She took in slow breath with the pain in her limbs. It was a miracle that she was able to be sitting up at all? Where did this smell of flowers come from?

"Can you hear me?" a man's voice asked. The test subject lifted her head.

"Huh?" she mumbled.

"Good, she's conscious," the man said. Mumbling came through the speakers. She tried to get a better look. The lower frequencies in the room made her ears hurt. Where was that scent of flowers coming from?

At least, she wasn't smelling bodies anymore. Ah, yes. There were dead people in a room with her. Where did they go? Who was that talking to her just now? Too many things started to surface in her head.

It's always so cold in Russia at night. It's worse when you have nothing to eat. She knew this too well. She dug through trash cans and looked for places to stay warm. People will do anything for food. If a starving was given the choice between saving a baby and a fat roasted pig, that baby would be dead in a heartbeat. That's right. They were all promised food. She wanted something a little more than trash can scraps for a change.

"We will begin the test."

Test? What test? Wait, when did this room get so cold? She looked down to see a small tray in front of her. Five white tablets sat on a small plate. Beside them stood a tall glass of water.

"Take the pills," the man said. Chills ran through her body. Something told her not to take them. But what choice did she have? The pains of hunger started to creep up in her stomach again. She reached forward and took the pills with the water. She lay on the floor with glazed over eyes. The room started spinning.

This wasn't the first time this happened.

Another wave of visions filled her eyes. There was another white room. Not much was inside. Just a piano, a stool, and a white teddy bear on the stool. She had seen this place before. Her hand reached for the little stuffed bear.

Someone called her name. She turned her head. A woman with a bird head gave her a cold look. She had her arms folded across her chest. The bird woman was talking to her, but she couldn't understand what she was saying. Whatever it was, it frightened her.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

The bird woman grabbed her by the hair. She tried to push the hand away. Instead, she was dragged out of the room by the bird woman.

"No!" she screamed. The hand through out through the door. She fell to the ground. She found herself cold and naked on the ground. Her body shivered. She shut her eyes tightly.

A hand grabbed her chin. Her mouth was forced open. They force a big needle into her mouth. She felt the liquid going into the back of her throat. Her whole body went limp.

She woke up in that white room again. A light flashed in her eyes.

"She's still with us."

"Good. Keep the test going."

"Yes."

Footsteps. The door slides shut. It goes quiet.

She stares at the ceiling. When did it look so high? No, the room was shrinking. The walls looked ready to swallow her whole. Faint classical music played in the background. How many of them were out there? She's heard two of them speak. There could be more. They were enjoying this, weren't they? All of this for food and a warm place to sleep. They took advantage of her. There were others that were trapped with her. What happened to them? Were they still alive? Where was that scent of flowers coming from?

Suddenly, white changed to brown. The floor became soft and fuzzy. The smell of flowers fought to overpower the cigar smoke in the room. Someone stood over her. They had a fat lit cigar between their fingers. Hot ashes fell on her skin. This person smelt like they hadn't had a bath in years.

They started speaking. She couldn't hear what they were saying. The person grin like a demon. A hand picked her up off the ground. Her body slowly came up off the ground. She could see dead eyes staring at her.

"Ready the next dose."

"What?"

A sharp pain shot through her frail body. She couldn't look down before the hand held her head in place. Her vision grew blurred. Her body went limp.

_Do not be afraid._

She opened her eyes. There was no one in sight. She could feel something crawling on her bare skin. She tried to scream but found herself unable to move.

_Do not be afraid. Just let it take you._

_Why?_

A soft breeze went into her ear. The answer became so clear to her. Her whole body relaxed.

_I understand. This won't hurt, will it?_

_No. It's going to feel wonderful._

She closed her eyes as the crawling moved up her body. The burning didn't even hurt either. She herself sank away into a new world. This must be what home felt like.

* * *

-The Next Day-

Ivan, Alisa, Adrik, and Karp walked up to the two-way mirror. Adrik flipped on the light. The homeless woman that Ivan nearly ran over sat up in the other room dressed in her dirty hospital clothes. Her short dirty blonde hair grew out to long and white to her shoulders. Her eyes glowed bright red as she looked up at the mirror in front of her. Ivan picked up the microphone.

"Tell me something, subject 1," he addressed her. "How are you feeling right now?" The test subject's lips curved into a devilish smirk.

"I feel good," she purred.


	31. End of Summer, Family, and Worry

Match Thirty: End of Summer, Family, and Worry:

-Ju-

Summer is going to end in a few days. It makes feel a little bit sad every year. I guess it's because I know that more work will be coming soon. I should be used to this by now and I am. But that feeling always manages to come back. I shook my head as I looked out the window. Funny, I would be happy were summer break was over that meant I could get away from my father again. Summer was like boot camp with him. I told you already that he trained me to be the next clan leader. He took that seriously. Too seriously, I may add. My days were spent practicing writing, how to eat, walk, and speak properly. He would use snacks and treats as a way for bargaining chips. If I made a bad deal, I wouldn't get anything. Hen-to and Bik were have to come up with "day passes" just to get me out of the house to be a normal kid on the playground. It got a little bit better in high school. After his death, it didn't really change. I was still work-minded around the summer. Only this time, it was school and the clan.

I frowned and shook my head again. I needed to think about something else.

As per the end of every summer, my father would go and visit the other families on the property. That is one traditional will be keeping up. They were the only family that I have left now. It wouldn't hurt to give them a little visit today. I walked over to my closet and picked out another dress to wear. Once I changed clothes, I made it down to the front door.

"I'm leaving now," I said. "I'll be back."

"Okay," Yao said. I walked out to the front door.

* * *

-Ju and Chang Family-

My first house was the Chang house. I rang the doorbell.

"Coming!" I heard Bik shout. I stood back as she opened the door.

"Ju," she said. "What brings you by?"

"Just thought I would stop by for a visit," I said. "I barely get to see you anymore."

"Do you want to come in?" Bik asked.

"Sure," I said. She moved aside and let me into the house. It felt like walking into my own house again. The living room looked the same as it always had. I shielded my eyes from the sunlight through the windows. Hen-to used to have something delicious waiting for me when I came by to visit.

"Hey, Ju," Hen-to said from the kitchen. "I just put some doughnuts in the fryer." My eyes instantly lit up.

"You're making doughnuts again?" I asked.

"Yeah," Hen-to said. I tried not to squeal aloud like a little girl. When was the last time I had something so good like that? I cleared my throat.

"Are they ready yet?" I asked.

"Just about," he said. "I think we have about three minutes left."

"Sweet," I said. I sat down at the kitchen table. "I'm going to visit the family around the property."

"Ah, I remember those days," Hen-to said. "Your father would pop in before the summer was over."

"Yeah, I figured that I would do the same," I said. I smiled as I spoke.

"How's Little Bean?" Bik asked. I put my hands on my belly.

"Good," I said. "They are doing good."

"Are you having twins?" Hen-to asked.

"No," I said. "It's gender neutral. I don't feel right calling them 'it'."

"You still don't know the gender?" he asked.

"I don't want to know until the baby is born," I said.

"Alright," Hen-to said.

"I still think it will a girl," Bik mouthed at me. I turned and looked around.

"Are Biao and Chih here?" I asked.

"Upstairs," Bik said.

"Thanks," I said. I got up and walked over to the stairs.

"Doughnuts will be ready soon," Hen-to said after me. I gave him a thumbs up as I went up the stairs.

I knocked on the boys' door.

"Come in," Biao said. I opened the door and poked my head inside. Biao and Chih sat at their laptops.

"Hey, guys," I said. "How's it going in here?"

"Good," Biao said. He was dressed up in his doctor wear as he moved his mouse.

"Same," Chih said.

"You have work today, Biao?" I asked.

"Uh-huh," he said. "Afternoon shift."

"I see," I said. "And you, Chih?"

"Good," he said. "I don't have much to do today."

"Okay," I said, nodding. "I'm just stopping by to visit everyone today."

"Is something wrong?" Biao asked. I smiled as I shook my head.

"No, I just wanted to see everyone," I said. "I just missed you."

"Aw, that's so sweet of you," Chih said.

"Guys, doughnuts are ready," Hen-to said.

"Yay!" I said, clapping my hands. Biao and Chih tried not to laugh at me.

"What?" I asked.

"You are such a child," Biao said.

"I am not!" I shouted as I folded my arms across my chest.

"Yes, you are," Chih said.

"Shut up," I said. The boys were still trying not to laugh at me. I just puffed up my cheeks and walked out of the room. I did stop by the kitchen for the doughnuts. So good. Fresh from the deep fryer. Bik and Hen-to both do the cooking in the house, but Hen-to is much better with the fryer.

"I'm leaving now," I said as I was putting some doughnuts in a container. "I'm going to check in on the other families."

"Come and have dinner with us sometime," Bik said.

"Sure will," I said. I walked out the door.

* * *

-Ju and Song Family-

The Song Family was my next stop. I rang the doorbell. I backed up when the door opened.

"Oh, Ju," Cai said with her head poking outside. "So nice to see you."

"Hi," I said.

"Care to come in?" she asked.

"Sure," I said. I followed her into the house. Fei sat in the living room, reading the paper. I lowered the top of it.

"Hello," I said. Fei blinked at me at first.

"Oh, Ju," he said. "What are you doing here?"

"Just thought that I would stop by and visit," I said.

"Ah, that takes me back," Fei said.

"You're just in time," Cai said as she walked into the living room. "I was making lunch."

"Ooo, what are you making?" I asked.

" _We're_  making fried noodles," Kee said as he walked into the living room himself. I turned around and waved.

"Yo," I said.

"How have you been?" Kee asked.

"Good," I said. "Little Bean is doing well too."

"Nice," he said.

"Any baby names yet?" Cai asked. I thought about it for a moment.

"Yao and I have thought of some them," I said. "I really like Gong-sun or Han for boys' name and Qing or Nui for girls."

"And Yao?" Fei asked.

"Nine or Sa-kota for a girl," I said. "Tan or Zuo-lin for a boy." I wrinkled my nose at the last name. But then, I perked up as I remembered something else.

"Oh, you should see the nursery," I said. "We have it all decorated in purple, green, and white."

"Why those colors?" Kee asked with a confused look on his face.

"Looked gender neutral, I guess," I said.

"You're really sticking to not knowing until the kid is born, huh?" Fei asked.

"Uh-huh," I said.

"Wow," the whole family said.

"Hey, I'm not always modern," I said. "I do keep some things traditional." Fei nodded at me.

"Nothing wrong with that," he said. I ended up staying with them after about thirty minutes longer before I left to go to the next house.

"Let me bless the child before you leave," Cai said as I put my hand on the door. I sighed and dropped my shoulders.

"Fine," I said. I didn't really see the point anymore, but I went through it anyway to keep her happy. After Little Bean was blessed again, I headed out to the next house.

* * *

-Ju and Qin Family-

Next up was the Qin Family. I thought of going home and dropping off my doughnuts, but my visits weren't going to take up too much time or anything. I walked up to the door and rang the bell.

"Coming!" I heard Mei shout. When was the last time I saw my dear friend again? It felt like forever. I looked up when the door opened. Mei saw me and her eyes lit up.

"Hey!" she shouted. She reached forward and hugged me.

"Whoa!" I said. Mei looked up at me with desperate eyes.

"I am so glad you are here!" she said. "Mom is driving me crazy again!" I sighed and rolled my eyes upwards.

"What is it now?" I asked.

"She's just being a bitch again," Mei complained. I tried to look into the house.

"Is she in right now?" I asked.

"Yeah, dad is trying to calm her down," she said.

"Come with me," I said. "I will help you out."

"Thank you so much!" Mei said. She tried to hug me even tighter.

"Mei! Get off!" I cried. "You'll hurt Little Bean!" My dear friend let go of me smiling.

"It'll be fine," she said. "The baby probably needed to be hugged with you." I rolled my eyes.

"Just take me to your parents," I said. Mei took me by the hand and led me inside. We found Wan and Chi-Ju sitting in the family room.

"Ju?" Chi-Ju asked.

"What seems to be the problem here?" I asked. "Don't try to talk over each other. One person at a time, please." I spent about twenty minutes listening to mother and daughter argue back and forth to each other. I had to try and get them to calm down a couple of times. The whole time, Chi-Ju sat back listening to everything. Sometimes, I just think that he doesn't care or doesn't want to get involved. I don't know whether to shame him or be amazed by him. I seriously don't know how he does it.

"I just let them get it out of their systems," he told me one day.

"But how does that even work?" I asked.

"I know that I can't do anything to break them up," he told me. "Men fight to prove a point. Women fight to kill. It's best for me not to get involved."

Once I got mother and daughter to calm down, I offered up me opinions and advice. (I doubt that it will work. But that's for another time.) When peace was restored, I excused myself out of the house.

* * *

-Ju and Kim Family-

I made my way over to the Kim Family's house. I rang the bell and waited. Everyone is acting like they always have. I should be enjoying the peace. But something doesn't feel right. It's like something is waiting for the right moment to surface its ugly head and swallow us whole.

I looked up when I heard the door open. Hark looked me up and down, confused.

"Ju?" she asked. "What are you doing here? Is something wrong?" I smiled as I shook my head.

"No, I just wanted to see you guys," I said. "I have always visited Chang, Song, and Qin today. You all are next. How are you today?"

"Good," Hark said. "And you?"

"Little Bean and I are fine," I said. "Can I come in?"

"Sure," Hark said. "Sure, come in." She moved aside and I stepped in.

"Thank you, am I interrupting anything?" I asked.

"Oh, no, no," she said. "Lili, Szu, and I were just about to sit down for lunch."

"Can I join you?" I asked.

"Sure," Hark said. We found Lili and Szu sitting at the table to eat.

"Hello," I said, waving.

"You joining us for lunch?" Szu asked.

"I sure am," I said. I took a seat at the table. "What are we having?"

"Just something a little bit something," Hark said as she started serving out a plate. I took a sniff of the air.

"Wow, that smells like Ma Po Tofu," I said.

"I made it with rice and spring rolls," Hark said. She placed my plate in front of me. I had to swallow back my drool.

"Thank you," I said, picking up my chopsticks. Hark and served her husband and daughter before getting her own plate.

"How is everyone?" Lili asked.

"Good," I said. "I just broke up another fight between Mei and Ms. Wan."

"How bad was it?" Hark asked.

"Not too bad this time. Mr. Chi-Ju managed to calm down Ms. Wan before I got there. How are you doing, Szu?"

"Good," Szu mumbled. She didn't look up at me. I didn't bother to bring up Junjie and Jianjun with her.

"You're not much in a talking mood, are you?" I asked.

"Leave her be," Lili whispered. "She's not in a good mood today." I didn't need to ask. I already had an idea.

"This is some good tofu," I said. "You really did good with this."

"Thank you," Hark said.

"How's the baby?" Szu asked.

"Fine," I said. "Little Bean is fine." That was how far the conversation went for the rest of lunch. We all just ate in silence.

"Thank you for lunch," I said when I was finished.

"You're welcome," Hark said. I placed my chopsticks on my plate and bowed.

"Thanks for visiting us," Szu said as I walked out of the dining room.

"You're welcome," I said. I smiled to myself as I walked out the door.

* * *

-Ju and Lew-Sun Family-

My last stop was the Lew-Sun Family's house. I walked and rang the bell. Szu is doing better at least. She will be even more so once Junjie is back in jail. I shoved him out of my head as the door opened. Tse came out while she was drying her hands.

"Ju," she said. "How have you been? Hi, Little Bean." She patted on my stomach.

"Good," I said. "How have you been?"

"Good, please, come in," Tse said.

"Thank you," I said. I bowed and followed her into the house. Qian was playing another video game while Man watched him.

"Hello, boys," I said.

"Hi," Qian said with eyes fixed the screen.

"Hello, Ju," Man said, turning his attention me.

"How is everyone?" I asked.

"Good," Man and Qian said in unison.

"What brings you by to see us?" Man asked.

"I just thought I would check in on everyone today just like my father did just before summer was over," I said.

"That takes me back," Tse said.

"I don't know if this will be a traditional that I might keep up," I said.

"I think you should," she said. "We all miss you and love you." I rubbed the back of my head.

"Aw, thanks," I said. I stayed and talked with the family for a little bit longer. The whole time, I couldn't shake that nagging feeling of something about to go wrong for us all. I didn't know how to explain and I didn't know if I should.

"Is something wrong, Ju?" Man asked. I smiled as I shook my head.

"No, nothing," I said. "Nothing at all." The rest of the visit was pleasant. That feeling disappeared in the back of my mind for the time being.

"Come back and see us again sometime," Tse said as I was ready to leave.

"I sure will," I said. I waved goodbye and walked out the door.

* * *

-Ju and Yao-

When I got home, I found Yao waiting for me in the living room.

"Were you waiting long for me?" I asked.

"No, not too long," he said. "How is everyone doing?" I closed the door behind me.

"Good," I said. "Everyone is doing good." I walked over and we embraced.


End file.
